The TVajritc, — CinhnJicm Stag, 83 



OtLcr particulars, it luis long since been decided by competent naturalists to 

 be distinct. It is between four feet six inches and five feet high at the 

 llioulders, cr about cue foot higher than tlie English stag. In Knight'a 

 Cyclopa:dia of Natural History, it is said that " ail the upper parts and the 

 lower jaw are of a somewhat lively, yellowish brov/n ; there is a black mark 

 from the angle of the mouth along the side ol" the lower jaw, and a brown 

 circle around the eye. The neck is mixed with red and black, with cciirse 

 hair descending from it like a dcw-Iap, deeper in colour than the sides. — 

 From the shoulders to the hips, French gvay ; a pale yellowish patch on the 

 buttocks, bounded on the thighs by a black line, 'i'he tail is yellovvish, and 

 only 2}.2 inches long, whereas it is nearly 7 inches in the Enrr j-)ean stag. — 

 The hair is of a mean length on the shoulders, the back the Hanks, the thighs, 

 and the under part of the head ; that on the sidc^s and limbs is shorter, but 

 the hair is very long on the sides of tlie head, posterior'y, a>nd on the neck, 

 partieulariy below where it forms the kind of dew-lap above alluded to. Ou 

 the posterior and outer aspects of the hind legs, there is a brush of tawny 

 hair which surrounds a narrow long horny substance. The ears are white 

 within, and clothed with tufted hair externaily of tliO same colour as the 

 neighbouring parts ; a naked triangular space round the large lachrymal siima 

 near the inner angle of the eye ; hoofs small and black, like the common stag. 

 The ^\''apitehas a muzzle, upper canine teeth, and a 3c<ft tongue ; the quality 

 of the hair is brittle, and there is a short wool beneath it. ''■ 



The horns are round, very large and long. A fragment now lying 

 , before us which was found in the County of Renfrew, is two feet four inches 

 in length and seven inches in circumference. It is a piece from the central 

 part of a horn that was probably over four feet in length Vt'iicn perfect. A 

 pair of horns from the head of a full gr;nvn Wapitc weigh, from thirty-fivc to 

 forty-live pounds. We have just weighed a preity largo pair of buck's horns 

 of the common species, {Ccrvus Virginianus,) and Mn:l their weight to be four 

 ftud a haif pounds. Those of the Wapite are therefore on an average, ten 

 times the size of those of the common buck. 'Jliey are not curved forward, 

 but risj from the head upward and backward, the main shaft being nearly 

 on a straight line with the facial outline, or a line di-awn from the point cf 

 tli3 nose above to the forehead. ?n ear the base tlicy sometimes have brow 

 antlers, cr branches which bend dov. nward. Fragments of these enormous 

 horns are frequently found in the new Townsliips of Canada by the settlers, 

 while clearing their land from the forest. They may be easily distinguished 

 from the horns of tlie moose by their not being jiulniatcd, but round, with 

 round sharp prongs ; and on account cf their great size, they can never be 

 mistaken for those of the common deer. Within the last one hundred and 

 twenty years the Wapite was somewhat common in the valley of theOttawji, 

 iccording to traditions among the Indians. The many fragments of horns 

 we have fcen, do not appear to have lain in the ground more than one hun- 

 dred years. They are usually found in the vegetable soil just beneath ih& 



* English Cyclopaedia of Natural History, vol. I j page Z^o, 



