The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1809-07-07

neither case the most conclusive logic. He
might, for aught we know, have been :. o.
vided with lungs calculated for respiration
under water, although his skeleton is unlike
that of any inhabitant Of that element now
known. But our naturalist. great in conjec-
ture. great in verbosity, and great in pre-
sumption, says, that he would have no neces-
sity tor resorting to water at all, since he
would surely find food enough upon land.
Nor could he have lived upon shell fish, for it
so, we would have found the shells, as if he
supposed the mammoth used oyster knives.
A.d here too our author has given us a word,
never believe, known by any writer but
himself, and which, if it means any thing
means what he certainly did not intend it
should do. it is "desfructibie" for destructive
presume.
In the following paragraph Mr.. B. has done
lwhat 1T was plain to forcsee he would do),
lie has fallen into lake, from whence he
may eXtricate himself as he can, and where
lbelieve he will find his Ehea Pteroentd of
little avail. However, after making another
3" inagiie" word, and using technical
phrase "compassed his extermination," he
brings us on to some absurdities which shall
be examined in due time. Here let me OBJ
serve, / perceive / shall be in dangerous
hands--surely from this word "compassed,"
Mr.. b. is barrister, if so, woe betide me.
Euryclia knew ULYSSES after 90 wears alb.
sence by scar on his knee, so also we NAV
know some men by their peculiar Phraseolo-
gy-Uiysses, the Poet tells us, received his
wound on Parnassus, by the tusk of wild
boar; our hero, am sure, never visited this
haunt OF the muses., SO leave his scars to be
accounted for by conjecturers, as he is one
himself return from this depression to
ask our writer how the mammoth could bite
the grass, when lie could not pick up a shell.
hsh-oysters adhere to rocks, and If he was
an aquatic animal, he could bring his mouth
to bear upon them with ease, but how he
could nibbie grass with tusks nine or ten feet
in length, protruding in front. is to me incon-
ceivable, not to mention his proboscis, which
would incomlnode him at least as much as
Turk is incommodelin eating, by his musta-
chios: And now, last of all, come to the
grand question, the mode by which he was
exterminated, on which point the gentleman
believes he is original, and much reason has
he so to hope, for it he is this, it is the ON
ly one.
The gentleman is Of opinion that they
have been cXtirpated by the "poor Indi-
aus ;" poor fellows They kill Mammoths
and we kill misunderstanding to this reason
ing, we must be the most powerful party
concerned-yet the Lord protect me from
Manlmoths. If the gentleman is correct i'm
his opinion, it is curious and astonishing
tact-Ihe largest animal the Indians are
salo TO overcome on our continent, is the Buff
'aioe; which in point'of strength, size and
accessibility to any vital part-can scarcely
ne supposed to bear nearer proportion to
the Mammoth than Domestic cat does to an
Indian Tiger. The grisy bear which our
accurate observer, and enterprising adven-
turer Capt. Lewis saw, weighed about 8OOl6s.
is incapable of climbing tree to take an
enemy, and is destitute of the sheathed and
formidable talons Of the cat kind-Yet the
Indlan no more dares to encounter him than
he does to SWIM across the Pacific Ocean
Our learned author would probably have de
duced as an inference from these facts, that
our continent was once the abode of no Pig
my race OF men but of Giants. Peradventure
the Naammoths might have been their beasts
OF Durthen, and that the reason of their
bones aboundlng in salt licks is that their
masters rode them to death in search of that
valuable mineral--we are getting too high
thonSh in the regions of conjecture, let us
descend 4 little to facts.
The Elephant has time immemorial since
and God knows how long before the DAYS
OF Fyrrhus q Hannibal, been eagerly sought
after at one tine, for warlike purposes at
another for ivory, for sport and for domesti-
cation-fet the banks of the Indus of whose
Elephants Horace sung almost 1000 wears
ago, and the Greek Poets long before him.
have not yet lost those animals of which they
have so long boasted-Perhaps though the
Indians of Asia are inferior to the Indians of
America, this is one OF the cases which the
gentleman may discuss himself Be it remem
bered too that the Elephant is inferior in size
to the Mammoth. The Hippotamus, the gen
tleman thinks. is protected by bis mother
water, as we are cherished by our mother
earth.
There is no need presume to examine
TINS production any farther than to observe.
one OF the worst of his many bad sentences.
which still remains. After Ceasihp to won
der that the Megalonyx and Megatherium
are no longer known, he says, They have
" persisted, and many of the animals now i'm
" existence may be found but in the pages of
the naturalist" Now if the Megalonyx
and Mcgatherium could " perish" WHY
could not tue Mammoth also perish Or
does he mean that they persisted by the hands
OF their enemies the Indians, if SO he should
have put an N b. as he did to tell us of his
figure. This sentence, which is a curiosity
III It's way, contradicts itself in the latter
part, tor MANY animals (says Mr.. By now
= IN existence are are to- be found but i'm the
" pages OF the naturalist" They must ORR
Sinaliy nave been found some where besides
IN the pages ut the naturalist, or how did
the naturalist put them in bis rates9 And
II they were once found elsewhere. whv Ear
they not be found now! For we are assured
they still exist, and il naturalists could find
them, Can see no reason why other people
should not do the same. Or does our writer
mean To be original again and enntend tbat