lNTERESTING, IF TRUE.

Waikato Times, Volume V, Issue 288, 17 March 1874, Page 2

INTERESTING, IF TRUE.

Tn . Xow York JI",,ilJ lia^ t!>re» roltmnn nnil n-lmlf of rlo?o tvpi' devoted to the im>rd ot an lntpniew between one of (.he Wt\tlil\ rom'<!p?m({,'i»tH aud Chenton HatchraatchiiieU, i 11um< in convict, latclv pirdoued by the Government m eoinidonition of Ins wonderful discoveries in Siberia, to wlnoh territory lie had been banished for smuggling. Clicntou had craped from tlie mine* of Nartchiueok, and having reach' d Ujo inouninina struck southward lor the Auioor river, intending to gel to China. Meeting Cossacks he rgain turned north, mid ei'tayed what ncemedto br a p»s=> in I lie great Altan rwigc. For thirty days ho scramblod about, «eeking m rain for an outlet. At length he got out to (lie north, together with one of tho branches of the Lena river. lie then turned eastward, and was entering the gorges of the Aldan mountains when winter ovortook him. Across the snow, however, came a vast troop of animals, all going the saw way. Cheriton followed them, arrived at tho summit of the range, and there, far below hit feet, landlocked between groat ranges of bilhou all sides, lay a valley fifty miles wide by 150 long, and centred by a. blue lake. He descended, and found the valley warm and fertile, and full of animals. Now came his sensational discovery. At night ho made a flre and lay down beside it to sleep. During tho night dark shadowy forms came over the water, splashing towards him, and seemed to aak what his fire might mean. The trampling of great beasts that crusbed tho willow stalks like pipe-stems on their way to the water's edge, and then came and stood over him, breathing heavily and slow as they seemed to gaze at the fire with stupid wonder, made him afraid each moment of being overrun. Wild eyes, reflecting the firelight, shone around him out of the gloom upon all sides, and wilder cries and howls gave new horrors to his position. He sprang to his feet almost paralysed with fright, and- fired off his pistol at the nearest intruder. Tho echo of the shot rang long around him, and it Bpemed the signal for th» cries of a thousand new monsters to burst forth. There were mad, plunging rushes of frightened beasts avound him that made the ground tremble ; a peculiar long, shrill, quirering shriek sounded over the iUL», »..j. —" ""-wnrj.fi bv a harsh, full, guttural bellow near at nana. When Unoriton awoke it was oroau clay, ann there were na traces- of animals that had disturbed him over night except the paths they had worn going down to the water. In thest paths ho saw the deep-planted spoor of some animals larger than anything of tho sort he had evor before beheld. His first care was to seek some place to pass the next night, where he- could be free from the alarms that had made the past night so terrible. He re-crossed the meadow, and followed the edge of the slope around to the direction in which ho saw some rocks. Among these are found the wido and lofty entrance to a cave. He entered with some precautions, for the rocky paTemont was worn as if by use, and within he heard a slow, measured movement, <« of an auimal gently ruminating, heavily breathing with great calm inspirations and expirations, like the sigh of a smith's bollows. One turn, then another, he heard a heavy startling snort, and there, in the half-light of the cave, standing full before him, alive, chewing the cud, and waving its probosis to and fro with a (low, gentle, majestic motion ho saw — a mammoth ' ' I did not know then,' said Cheriton, ' what I have since been told, that Siberia was an old habitat of these animals, and that some of tho best scientific judges are uncertain whether to look upon the remains found on the shores of the Arctic Ocean as fossil animals or as the remnants of wandering herds caught and perishing in storms, individuals of which may still exist under favorable circum stances- Without intending it, I have solved that doubt.' Cheriton describes the mammoth as being a very imposinglooking animal, covered with reddish-brown wool and long black hair. During his stay in the valley he was close to five of them, all of which wero nearly of a size, being about twelve feet high, eighteen feet long, with tusks projecting about four feet, and being eight to ten feet in length, counting tho curve. The skin, which was bare on tho upper surface of tho eyes, on the knees, and rump, wai of a mouse color, and seemed very thick. The animal was nocturnal in its habits, frequcntiug cave 3 and forest depths by day, and feeding at night in tha early morn. Cheriton tiiiuks there might bo some 15 or 20 of these monsters in the valley altogether, but that all these are aged, and that very few are born now a-days. At any rate he saw none that had the least appearance of being young. They were very peaceable animals, torpid and sluggish as old oxen, never disturbing CHeriton, nor indeed taking much notice of him. Cheriton, however, discovered ot the same time another animal less easy of identity : — ' The lake was inhabited by a monster of which Cheriton was in comtantdread, a sort of saurophidian, which he described as being thirty feet long, and armed with scales and horrible fangi. This monster — ho never saw but one — was completely master of tho lake, and lived by devouring the animals which camo by night to its brink to drink. Cheriton gives a graphic and exciting description of a contest which he witnessed one- morning- at early dawn between this crocodile serpent and one of the mastodons. The battle which lasted more than an hour, ended in the discomfiture of the mammoth, which could bat-dly limp away after having been constricted in the serpent's fold.' We aro told that this unfortunate traveller is writing a book. We trust that when It appears it may be translated. What with aquariums and zoological gardens, we are getting tired of our modern beasU and fishes.— Waikouaiti Herald.