The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-11-19
BURIED IN PREHISTORIC ICE
EXTINCT ANIMALS THAT HAVE
BEEN PRESCRIBED FOR AGES.

A Specimen OF the Hairy Rhinoceros Lost
Through the Ignorance OF Natives of 81
beria-wonderful Spectaclss of whales
In fce-Human Bodies Even So Found.
PASADENA, Cal, Nov. 12.-"Thorc is some
thing that would not attract much attention, but
l value IL highly" said traveller who had the
reputation Of a sportsman we'll and he held up
what appeared 10 be piece Of whalcbone.
His companion ventured guess as to what II
was Il have seen something like II fastened or
dashed to Eskimo bows" he said
you have hit H." said the other taking down
a bow from the wall "Iicrc is the bow 10 which
II was dashed But IL is not whalebone. ven
ture TO say that you would never guess what II is
II is strip from tho horn Of rhnoceros; not the
rhinoccros now found in Africa, but huge beast
that formerly roamed tho Arctic shores OF the
continent II has been known only little more
than century to white people, and there is not a
perfect skeleton Of II to-day The natives long
ago knew Of the animal and collected its tusks,
which they split up to fastcn TO their bows The
discovery Of one Of these bows led TO the intor-
duction Of this monster TO the world Of science.
though not TO the general public. az I suppose
not one person In ten thousand ever heard OF IT,
To make long story short a bow just like this
fell into the hands Of a naturalist who at once
saw that there was something strange about It,
lie began to investigate the bow and after the
expenditure Of vast amount of time, money and
brains no discovered the native who had owned
the bow. This native had received IL from his
father who lived some distance out on the Lena
In Siberia. The naturalist ran down the father
and learned that he in turn had received IL as n
legacy from his father. who. he said had taken It
from the claw Of huge bird covered with hair.
the said claw being about four feet in length
The old man said he had seen a picture Of
of these birds made by his father. and he drew
for the naturalist rude sketch of a great bird.
The natives, or many Of them, thought they were
using the claw Of n big bird like the roc Of the
Arabian Tales. and they imagined that II brought
them good luck so the piece was handed down
from generation to generation II IL supposed
that the so-cnllod claws were known two thousand
years ago, and that IIcrodotus referred to them
In his account Of the Arimaspi and the dragons
tina, guarded the gold Such grip claws were much
treasured In the Middle Ages, and 50 well informed
awhter and traveller az Hendenstrom believed that
the horns were the grip claws Of huge bird. No
large that II could carry of an elephant; this
legend may have travelled south and becn taken
up by the Arabian s,orytellers As late as 1880
this traveller in a lecture to scientific society in
ST. Petersburg described the grip claws Of mon
ster bird that he had and that were two fc,s
in length and the scientific Of the time failed
to convince him Of his dcusion
Finally the origin 81 the so-called grip claws
was found To bc q real rhinoceruS. \ party II
natives were campcd on the side nf the riyer Wiln
In 81 north latitude on their way down Ia the
mouth for the summer fishing. The ground ar
tundra was frozen solid There would b. he'd
Of frozen sill or gravel. then mass IL ice. then
more soil, an for thirty or forty feet deep the
tundra was solid having bccn frozen NJ since
try While they we're in camp a landslide &C.
CURED on the opposite side II the river Tho
water had undermined the bank and great masses
Of the tundra came rushing down. and with 1t
the bdy of gigantic animal. The natives
crossed over and found II to ~ perfect rhinocerus
covered with hair, and on lis nose were two large
grip claws as they called them. These the natives
cut Of to divide up into strips for their bows while
the flesh Of the animal which was as fresh az
though recently killed, WAS given IN their dogs
No more remarkable instance of what ignorance
may accomplish was ever witnessed The natives
dreds Of miles 10 exc out n miserable existence
by the capture 81 a few fish, and they deliberately
essh Fn s w Wb. h"y seS ,se
their villages at the end Of the summer with the
grip claws or horns, the story was told, and an
official reported II To the authorities AT St Peters
burg. who nj once gave orders To have the animal
hunted up. and brought in: but the rare specimen
had been devourrd by wolves and foxes. the hair
scattered by the wind and all that was secured
was It's head and feet which may still be seen in
"In 1877 the last rhInoceros was discovered. and.
singunrly enough, again its head and one foot
were nll that was saved. II was washed out Of
N
go This animal was much larger than the
rhinoceruS ~ to-day, and formidable crca-
turc. covered with long reddish hair. and barring
upon its head two horns: the first three and half
feet In length in some instances, and the Second
foot and n half II lived contcmpora nrouslv
with the mammoth, and at times wngcd war with
these hugo brutcs, The animals found undoubt.
edly fell into the creviceS In the ice died from
natural Gauss ard were covered with snow and
perfectly, The stip have here came from such
an nnimrl and that Is why value it so highly
u Is not generally appreciated that ice is a
factor in transporting animals ~ various kinds
berg that had oa,ed out in," hs ,an arSs some Gs
years ago was boarded bv = srs,er for the purnna,
of taking the seals that had clung 10 H. To their
surprise the men found emb~ldcd in the ice a
large polar hear. The assumption Is that wears
before the hear In crossing a crcvnssc of glacier
had fallen in and had been caugh, and frozen
the sea, broke oil and dri'cd away the hear being
finally taken ont ns pcrfec' as when II died, II
skinned. and some II the flesh eaten
The graf clcphant discovered in Siberia In
lSi8 by Prof Mid'cdorf is m interesting illus
perfectly preserved and the discovercr had almost
as exciting night to secure II ~ though Il had
cN'rton II was anchored Ia the shore though
the icy waters tore IL away before II was entirely
disscc,cd One Of the most remarkable sights
Cart Pendleton, British whalcr lie was fol.
loving MS profession around Deception ISL and
berg that had just fallen from an ice cliff 300 icct
high. Tho berg appeared 10 I've about ono hun A.,
dred feet deep and two-thirds Of q mile In length
The Captain, wishing to observe the ClifT ar f,cc
Of the ice from which this berg h ad droppcd sailed
near II and saw high above the topmasts, at least
2SO feet above the level Of the scn tho body Of ~
large whale perfect save for the head. which had
broken oil and gone with the berg A norton
Of this whale was secured nv the whncr wbn
took eight or ten barrels Of oil from IT, while tho
rest afforded food for tho sra birds This wb.ic
WAS embedded nearly in the centre Of the ciiG,
b20 feet from the top, and the question il how
did the whale get there and how long had il bccn
there IL WAS sulphur bottom and was he. |
tween sixty and seventy feet In length
Another observer found a large whale in th, |
South Shetlands embedded in a mass ~
Ice 500 500 feet " aN the sea. Capt, Thomss
above water In the ice on Ragged islanj
and doubtless many whalrrs in The AMI
arctic Ocean could tell similar stories Can,
William Beck had a remarkable experience. Hia
crew were wandering one Of the islands in
tho Antarctic when they came 10 q large bluff in
which. as In glass case, was whale lfty or sixiy
feet in length, The men were dumfoundcd no
they were a mile and q half inland and The snnt
was nearly one hundred feet above sen Icyci ,
Here was a valuable whale all ready Tor them.
intact and perfect In every particular apparently
swimming in the ice 1t was manifcstiy I'M