22 SECRETS OF EARTH AND SEA 



" instead of with other stags by themselves, and by his 

 " not having ' run ' yet, though his horns are clear of 

 " velvet. He is most likely the stag on whose horn this is 

 " engraved. The length of the deer's feet shows that they 

 " live on ground which is soft and not many stones about 

 " to wear down their toes. 



" Maybe the fish indicate that the deer are crossing a 

 " shallow ford, and the salmon are getting frightened and 

 " jumping. The right-hand-most fish is just in the attitude 

 " of a hooked salmon trying to leap clear of the fly. . . . 



" The picture was most likely first drawn on some flat 

 " flexible surface, skin or bark, in a sticky medium, and 

 " then transferred to the horn by rolling it round the horn 

 " and then rubbing it. This would give a transfer, 

 " which would guide the subsequent engraving, otherwise 

 " it would be very difficult to engrave direct on the horn, 

 " and mistakes could not easily be corrected. 



"WALTER WlNANS 



"SURRENDEN PARK, PLUCKLEY, KENT 5 ' 



With regard to the six fishes in the picture of " The 

 Three Red Deer," I think that there can be little doubt 

 that they are put in in the same spirit of exuberance 

 which induced early Italian masters to introduce a cherub 

 wherever a space for him could be found. The fish repre- 

 sented are the same in each case, and are undeniably 

 salmonids. Presumably they are drawn on a larger scale 

 than the deer. Their markings and the form of the head 

 are deserving of some criticism and comment by those 

 who are familiar with fish as seen by the fisherman. 

 Probably the artist's friends at Lourdes captured fish in 

 those days by spearing them with serrated bone-headed 

 fish spears or harpoons (Fig. 3). No fish hooks of bone 

 have been found in the cave of Lortet or in others of like 

 age, although needles and whistles of bone and other 

 useful little instruments, as well as serrated spear heads 

 and harpoons have been obtained in several of them. 



