The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-03-30

which had fallen from the blum above.
He picked Is up and carried i to camp,
when, after passing i around for the
on the camp IRE, and 81 hands were sur
prised to see the old fossil marrow take
IRE and blaze up into bright fame till all
was consumed.
Ireported this to Professor Baird who vas
very anxious to secure the skeleton or as
much Of It a. could Be found, and q his re,
Captain Moore, then in command Of the
cutter Wolcott. to proceed TO the desig-
mated place with me and hunt for the fOs-
sill skeleton. Captain Miles, G. s. A., was
then in command at Fort Townsend, and
/ by invitation of Captain Moore, he. ac-
Dor early in the afternoon Of April o6,
1856, and anchored close to Rocky point
at the east side Of the entrance
to Holmes sharbor. Captain Moore,
Captain Miles and landed and
walked along the beach past the place
indicated to me by Mr.. Sheridan, but the
brush had grown up 50 thick that We could
opinion that the only way by which we
could accomplish any result would be to
camp at Rocky point with q suitable party
for q week and make careful investiga-
ton, but as we had not come prepared for
such work We had to return to Port Town
Washington City to continue the work 1t
was abandoned; but the fossil bones are
there stin. and some day viii be re-dis-
covered.
The following remarks on the Siberian
mammoth by Professor William Boyd
Dawkins, Ma, FRS, and W. Il. Oately.
in "Cassel's Natural History" will be of
interest. The story of finding the first
mammoth imbedded in ice has been often
told, but is Of sufficient interest to be re-
lated again:
a Tungoosian fisherman named Schu-
machoff about the year 1850 was proceed
ing along the shores OF the Lena river IN
quest OF mammoth tusks, which have been
found there in considerable abundance.
During his rambles, having gone further
than he had done before, he came sud-
denly upon 0 hugh mammoth imbedded in
the clear ice. He was 50 astonished and
terrified that he allowed several years to
eff the tusks and carry them to place OF
sale.
.sDr. Middendorf, in 1913, found another
specimen in latitude s. deg. 50 min.,
between the Obi and Yenesi rivers, near the
Arctic circle and during the same year he
found another near the river Taimyr in lati-
tude IS deg. is min. But the fourth and most
in 1915 by a young Russian engineer
named Benkendorf, who was sent by his
government N command OF
small iron steam cutter to sur
vey the coast of the mouth Of the
Lena and Indigirka. In his account.
that the weather in 1876 was uncomnlonly
warm in the north of Siberia. In May
unusual rains poured over the moss and
bogS Storms shook the earth, and the
streams carried not only ice TO sea but
also lari e tracts Of land. thawed by the
masses OF warm water fed By the
southern rains. These loosened the entire
carcass Of mammoth, which was secured
by chain to the. shore. This mammoth
was covered with thicE fur. The body
was Is feet long, 10 feet high, tusks s feet
long, thick and curving outward and up
ward, trunk feet long, colossal limbs III
end, which had . thick init Of hair. The
animal was tat and well grown. Death
had oyertaken him iRhis full power. TWAS
standing in the earth, not lying on its side
or back. All the body had been freed from
ice. except the hind legs, which were inn
bedded in the earth and indicated the
manner of its destruction. The soft marsh
or peat land, on which he stepped thou
sands of years ago, gave way by the
weight of the giant and he sank as he
stood ON it, feet foremost, incapable of
saving himself. A severe frost turned
him to ice, as well as the moor which had
DuEieo utlu. Inc ldttcfs uONSScI. grew anu
fiourished, every summer renewing itself.
The stream had heaped plants and
sand over the dead body and
now the stream had once more brought il
to the light of day. The animal at once
began 20 decompose, and the stencil vas
fearful, but they preserved and examined
the stomach, which was allied with shoots
Of mr. and tir cones, prOsing that il fed on
vegetation which Il now found on the
northern part of the woods, fact that
would necessarily involve the con-
clusion that the climate of Si-
IBERIA in those ancient days differed
but slightly from that Of the present time.
The animal was well protected from the
cold. About the shoulder and the back he
had long, stiff hair, q foot long, like name.
The long outer hair was deep brown and
coarsely rooted. Under the outer hair
there appeared everywhere soft wool,
warm and thick, of . yellow-brown color.
The whole appearance of the animal was
fearfully wild and strange"
We never can expect to find q carcass of
the American elephant, as thesweather is
not cold enough here to preserve it, but
with this description of the Siberian man.
moth it is not difficult for US to picture to
ourselves the strange looking animal
whose bones are so often found on WILDLY
. ssyo IL