But did all these animals exist at the same time? It is difficult to
say. The study of the different gravels is most intricate--almost a
special science in itself--in which but two or three men are adepts.
It is hard, at first sight, to believe that the hippopotamus could
have been the neighbour of the Arctic reindeer and musk ox: but that
the woolly mammoth not only may have been such, but was such, there
can be no doubt. His remains, imbedded in ice at the mouth of the
great Siberian rivers, with the wool, skin, and flesh (in some cases)
still remaining on the bones, prove him to have been fitted for a
cold climate, and to have browsed upon the scanty shrubs of Northern
Asia. But, indeed, there is no reason, a priori, why these huge
mammals, now confined to hotter countries, should not have once
inhabited a colder region, or at least have wandered northwards in
whole herds in summer, to escape insects, and find fresh food, and
above all, water. The same is the case with the lion, and other huge
beasts of prey. The tiger of Hindostan ranges, at least in summer,
across the snows of the Himalaya, and throughout China.
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