"In spite of their gigantic size and weapons, the mammoths were frequently killed by prehistoric men. These men must have been very brave and determined to kill these huge and terribly armed beasts, with stone and rude wood and bone spears.
"The very word ‘mammoth’ is of Siberian Tartar origin, being derived from the word ‘mammoth,’ the earth, on account of the beast being found frozen in the earth. Chinese records show that they, too, frequently discovered the frozen mammoths. The beast is probably the same as the ‘Behemoth’ of the Bible.
"The bones of the mammoth when first discovered in Europe were variously regarded as the remains of giant men and of elephants that had been brought to Europe by the ancient Romans. Even the majority of scientists held to this opinion until Sir Richard Owen, the great palæontologist, first proved that they were the remains of an extinct animal allied to, but of different species from, the elephant.
"One of the first mammoths described by modern scientists was found on the peninsula of Tamut, near the Lena River, in 1799. It was fully enclosed in a mass of clear ice. It was uncovered and rotted away in 1804."
Mr. Norman’s Letter.
The following is a copy of Mr. Norman’s letter:
"British Embassy, St. Petersburg,
"Dec. 24, 1904.
"Dear Sir,—Before leaving St. Petersburg, Mrs. Gough-Calthorpe, wife of our late naval attaché, asked me to send you some information about the stuffed mammoth which is in the Zoological Museum here, as you were interested in such things, and I promised to translate the passage in the catalogue which refers to the animal.
"The revolution which has been raging here for the last few months has given me so much to do I really have not had time to keep my promise sooner. However, I now send you the translation, which, I fear, tells disappointingly little about the mammoth, giving no measurements nor any description of his appearance. The earlier part, too, about the distribution of the elephant family, is doubtless also stale news to you.