Earsay Loch is a shallow piece of water of no great extent. Among the heath around the loch the Longleaved Sundew, Drosera longifolia, was very common, together with the Bear-berry bush, Arbutus uva ursi, and the compressed Bog-rush, Schanus compressus: The last of these plants only in flower (June 24.) The Lichen omphaloides, Bryum apocarpum and Trichostomum lanuginosum, were growing on many stones.

In Glen Earsay, nature assumes a grand appearance of wildness. Here silence is only interrupted, by the bleeting of a wandering sheep, or the gentle murmuring of the stream. The eye perceives nothing but hills clothed with brown mantles of heath, or the hoary summits of the granite mountains, slowly mouldering by the hand of time. The prospect of such scenes can scarcely fail to impress the mind with a pleasing melancholy.

Loch Tannoch is situated in a plain at the head of Glen Earsay. It is about a mile in length, and a quarter of a mile in breadth. The banks of the loch are surrounded with blocks of granite, and its heach is composed of granitic sand. Upon some old cowdung in the neighbourhood of this loch I observed several patches of the Zig-zag Gland - moss, Splachnum grasile, (not a very common production;) and Peziza scutellata, which is frequent. In the neighbouring mours, I observed many breeding

pairs of the Golden Plover, Charadrius pluvialis*.

a

From Loch Tannoch I descended to the coast by Glen Catacol. This glen is very steep, with precipitous sides. A rivulet running in the bottom of the glen has exposed the granitic strata distinctly to view. The white colour of the rocks here gives a pleasing pellucidity to the water in the pools. Near the top of the glen basalt vein traverses the gra nite without producing any change on its structure or appearance. Farther down the glen, a stratified vein traverses the granite in a direction from north to south. The west side of the vein is composed of a substance approaching to basalt, and the east side, is filled with porphyry, precisely similar to the porphyry which composes the Brown Hills. At the bottom of the glen the mica-slate rocks commence. These incline to the horizon at an angle of 40°, and continue forming low hills, till we come to Loch Ransa +.

encircled with the clouds, form altogether á most interesting picture.

To be continued.

Some Account of a Journey to the Frozen Sea, and the Discovery of the Remains of a Mammoth, by M. MICHAEL ADAMS, of St Petersburgh. Translated from the French.

Should have reason to reproach I myself, were I to delay any longer the publication of a discovery în Zoology, which is so much the more interesting to be detailed, as it once more presents to our view a species of animal, the existence of which has been a subject of dispute amongst the most celebrated naturalists.

I was informed at Iakoutsk, by M. Popoff, who is at the head of the company of Merchants of that town, that they had discovered, upon the shores of the Frozen Sea, near the mouth of the river Lena, an animal of an extraordinary size. The flesh, skin, and hair, were in good preservation, and it was supposed that the fossile production, known by the name of Mammoth horns, must have belonged to some animal of this kind.

M. Popoff had, at the same time, the goodness to communicate the drawing and description of this animal; I thought proper to send both to the president of the Petersburgh Academy. The intelligence of this interesting discovery determined me to hasten my intended journey to the banks of the Lena, as far as the fro zen sea, and I was anxious to save these precious remains, which might perhaps otherwise be lost. My stay at lakoutsk, therefore, only lasted a few days. I set out on the 7th of June 1806, provided with some indispensable letters of recommendation, some of which were addressed to the servants of the Government, and others to merchants from whom I hop

ed to derive some advantages. On the 16th of June I arrived in the small town of Schigarsk, and towards the end of the same month I reached Kumak-Surka; from this place I made an excursion, the express object of which was to discover the Mammoth. And I shall now give a sketch of my journey.

The contrary winds, which lasted during the whole summer, retarded my departure from KumakSurka; this place was then inhabited by 40 or 50 Toungouse families of the Batouline race. Fishing was their ordinary occupation; and the extreme activity of these people filled me with admiration; the women, old men, and even children, laboured with indefatigable assiduity in laying up provisions for winter. The strongest went a-fishing, the less robust were occupied in cleaning and drying the fish. The whole shores were covered with scaf folding, and the cabins so filled with fish that we could scarcely enter them. An innocent gaiety reigned in every countenance, and all exhibited the utmost activity. The fishermen sang while casting their nets, and others were dancing the charya, which is a dance peculiar to the country. cannot sufficiently express the emotions of joy which I felt at the sight of these pleasing scenes.

I was convinced, while upon the spot, that the inhabitants of the North enjoy happiness even in the midst of their frozen regions.

But what astonished me still more, was the picturesque view of the opposite side of the Lena. This river, which is one of the largest in Siberia, majes tically rolls its waters through the mountainous chain of Verschejansk : it is here, near its mouth, entirely devoid of islands, and much narrower, deeper, and more rapid than in any other part of its course. The mountains here appear in a great variety of forms; they are of a brilliant whiteness, and of a savage and horrid as

pect

pect; sometimes they represent immense columns which rise into the clouds, sometimes they resemble the ruins of aneient forts, and as if they were parts detached from the mutilated remains of grotesque and gigantic figures.

Further off the horizon is terminated by a chain of high mountains, where eternal snow and ice dart back the rays of the sun.

These landscapes are of exquisite beauty; an expert draughtsman would look in vain for similar views in any other place of Siberia; and I am not astonished that the picturesque situation of Kumak-Surka should become the object of a national song, known solely on the shores of the Frozen Sea. I reserve the communication of this curious article until I publish the detailed account of my journey.

The course of the winds having at last changed, I thought of pursuing my route, and I had my rein-deer brought across the river. Next day, at day-break, I set out accompanied by a Toungouse chief, Ossip Shoumachoff, and by Bellkoff, a merchant of Schigansk, and attended by my huntsman, three Cossacs, and ten Toungouses.

The Toungouse chief was the first person who discovered the Mammoth, and he was proprietor of the territory through which our route lay. Bellkoff, the merchant, had spent nearly his whole life on the shores of the Frozen Sea. His zeal, and the details he procured me, have the strongest claims to my gratitude; I am even indebted to him for the preservation of my life at a moment of imminent dan ger.

At first I found great difficulty in sitting upon a rein-deer; for, the saddle being attached by a girth of leather only, it was very insecure, and often occasioned me very disagreeable falls. Besides, my position was very inconvenient for want of stirrups, which are never used among the Toungouses.

On our route we traversed high and rugged mountains, valleys which followed the course of small rivulets, and parched and savage plains, where not a shrub was to be seen. After two days travelling we at last approached the shores of the Frozen Sea. This place is called by the Toungouses, Angardam, or terra firma. In order to attain the Mammoth, it was necessary to traverse another isthmus, calBykoffskoy - Mys, or Fumut. This isthmus, which projects into a spacious gulf, is to the right of the mouth of the Lena, and extends, as I was informed, from South-east, to Northeast for about 30 or 35 wersts Its name is probably derived from two points, in the form of horns, which are at the north extremity of this promontary. The point upon the left hand, which the Russians call by way of eminence, Bykoffskoy-Mys, on account of its greater extent, forms three vast gulfs, where we find some settlements of Iakouts: the opposite point, called Maustach on account of the great quantity of floating wood found upon its shores, is one half smaller; its shore is lower, and this district is completely inhabited. The distance from the one point to the other is estimated at four leagues and a half, or 45 wersts.

Small hills form the higher part of the peninsula of Fumut; the remainder is occupied by lakes, and all the low grounds are marshy.

The principal lakes are: 1st, Chastirkool, which means the lake of Geese; 2d, Kourilakool; 3d, Beulgeuniachtachool, the lake of hillocks; 4th, Omoulachkool; 5th, Mougourdachkool, where a particular kind of salmon are found, called tchir; and 6th, Bachofkool. The lake No. 4. is the largest, and No. 5. is the deep

est,

* Ten wersts are equal to six English geographical miles.

est of all.

The lake, No. 6. derives its name from two famous adventurers, Bouchoff and Schalauroun, who spent a whole winter on its banks. We still see the ruins of a ca-, bin in which they resided. The history of their unfortunate end is told by M. Sauer in his journal of Billings's expedition.

The isthmus we have mentioned is so narrow at some places that the sea may be seen on both sides. The Rein-deer perform a periodical transmigration every year, during which they abandon these places in order to proceed by the Frosen Sea towards Borchaya and Uitjansk, and for this purpose they collect in large troops about autumn. In order to hunt these animals with greater prospect of success, the Toungouses have divided the peninsula into cantons, separated by palings. They frighten the deer by loud cries, which they utter all at once, by letting dogs loose at them, and by fans which they attach to the palings, and which are agitated by the wynd. The terrified Rein-deer throw them selves into the water in order to reach some neighbouring island, where they are pursued and killed by the hun

ters.

On the third day of our journey we pitched our tents a few hundred paces from the Mammoth, upon a hillock called Kembisagashaeta, which signifies the Stone with the broad side.

Schoumachoff related to me the history of the discovery of the Mammoth in nearly the following terms:

"The Toungouses, who are a wandering people, seldom remain long in one place. Those who live in the forests often spend ten years and more in traversing the vast regions among the mountains; during this period they never visit their homes. Each family lives in an isolated state from the rest; the chief takes care of them, and knows no other society. If, after several years absence, two friends January 1808.

meet by chance, they mutually com municate their adventures, the various success of their hunting, and the quality of peltry they have acquired.After having spent some days together, and consumed the little provisions they have, they separate chearfully, charge each other with compliments for their respective friends, and leave it to chance to bring them together again. Such is the way of life of these innocent children of nature. The Toungouses who inhabit the coast differ from the rest, in having more regularly built houses, and in assembling at certain seasons for fishing and hunting. In winter they inhabit cabins, built close to each other, so as to form small vilages.

"It is to one of these annual excursions of the Toungouses that we are indebted for the discovery of the Mammoth. Towards the end of August, when the fishing in the Lena is over, Schoumachoff is in the habit of going along with his brothers to the peninsula of Tunart, where they employ themselves in hunting, and where the fresh fish of the sea furnish them with wholesome and agreeable nourishment.

"In 1799, he had caused to be built for his women, some cabins upon the shores of the lake Onroub; and he himself coasted along the sea shore for the purpose of searching for some Mammoth horns. One day he perceived, in the midst of a rock of ice, an unformed block, which did not at all resemble the floating pieces of wood usually found there. In order to examine it more closely he clambered up the rock and examined this ́new object all around; but he could not ascertain what it was. The year following he discovered in the same spot the carcase of a sea-cow (trichecus rosmarus.) He perceived at the same time that the mass he had formerly seen was freer from the ice, and by the side of it he remarked two similar pieces, which he afterwards found