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SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



THE HART AND THE HIND 



THE hind and the roe, and the hart and the antelope, have al- 

 ways been held in the highest estimation hy the orientals, for the 

 voluptuous beauty of their eyes, the delicate elegance of their form, 

 and their graceful agility of action. In the sacred writings, there- 

 fore, as well as in other literary compositions of the East, we fre- 

 quently meet with direct references, or incidental allusions to their 

 qualities and habits. The hart, which is the stag or male deer, is 

 one of those innocent and peaceable animals that seem to embellish 

 the forest, and animate the solitudes of nature. The easy elegance 

 of his form, the lightness of his motions; those large branches that 

 seem made rather for the ornament of his head than its defence ; 

 the size, the strength, and the swiftness Of this beautiful creature; 

 all sufficiently rank him among the first of quadrupeds, and among 

 the most noted objects of human curiosity. But, as this animal is 

 so well known, it is not necessary that we should occupy much of 

 our space in minute verbal description. The horns of the deer, 



