MAMMOTHS IN ALASKA.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 2254, 16 October 1889, Page 2

MAMMOTHS IN ALASKA.

» 0. fl\ Fowler, late of the Alaska' Fu* andOommecolalGompany, reoent.y gave to a Philadelphia newspaper the following aooount of a trip he took In Alaska, He said : • Two years ago last summer I left Kodlak for a trip to the headwaters of tbe Snuka river, where oar travelling agents had established a trading atation kt an Indian village. The chief of this family of Innults was named Tc-loe-tl-ma, and to him I wan wdl recommended. He received me hoeplfcably, and I at onoe began negotiations for the paroh«ie of a big lot of fen all Ivory which bin ttlbo bad caohed t ear the village. Tbe lot weighed several thousand pounds, and was oompoied of the prlaolpal and Inferior tuikt of the mimmotb, the remalm of thousands of which gigantic are to be found In the bads of Interior Alaska water course*. I subjected the ivory to a rigid Inspection, and npon two of the largest taski I dlsooyerei fteeh blood trwa and the remains of partly decomposed flash. 'I qnejtioned To lee-ti-ma, and ha assured me that less than three months before a pacy of the young men had encountered a droya of monsters aboat fifty miles ahove where he was then encamped, and had succeeded In killing two, an old ball and a cow. At my request he sent for the leader of tha hunting party, a young and intelligent Indian, aud 1 questioned him closely about his adventure among a- raoe of animals that the eoientifio peopls olaim are extinot. He told a s raightforward story, and I have no reason to doubt its truth- * He and his band were searching along a dry water course for ivory, and baa found a considerable quantity. One of tha bucks, who was io advance rushed m upon the main body one morning with the startling intelligence that at a, spring of water about a mile above where they were he had discovered the. " signs" of several of the " big teeth. " They had come down to the spring to drink from a lofty plateau farther inland, and had evidently fed la the vicinity of the water for some time. The chief immediately called about him his w-r fiora, and the party, under the leadership of the scout, approached the stream. They bad nearly reached it when theli ears were suddenly saluted by a ohorus of loud, shrill, trumpet-like oalli, and an enoim >ns oreature oatue crashing towards them tbrqngh the, thicket, the ground fslily trembling beneath its ponderous footfalls. With wild orles of terror and dismay the Indians flsd, all but the Ohlef end tbe soout who had first discovered the trail of the monsters. They were armed with large calibre muskets and stood thelo ground, opening fire on the mammoth. A ballet must have penetrated the creature's brato, for It staggered forward and fell dead, and subsequently, on their way back to their oamp-gtound, they overhauled and killed a oow " big teoth," which was evidently the mate of the first one killed. ' I asked the hunter to desoilbe tha monster, and taking a sharp stiok, he drew mo the piotore of" the male animal iv the soft day. According to tie de». orlption, It wns at least twenty fest m height and more than thirty feet In length. In general shape It was not unlike au elephant, but Its ears were smaller, Its eyes bigger, and Its trunk longer and more splendor. Its tusks were yollowloh white In color and six In number, Four of these tusks were plsoad like those of a boar, one on either side of each jiwj they were about four feet lonj and came to a sharp point, The other two tuaka be brought away. 'I measured them, abd they were oyar fifteen feet m lengt'i and weighed upwatdf of 250 pound) oaob. They gradually tapered to a sharp point and curved inward. The monster's body was ooyqred with long, 000 tel mil of a reddish dan solor. I took"* oapy of the rude sketoh ntde by iha Indian.'