The Wapiti and his Antlers. 



75 



Curious, therefore, is the result of a very interesting 

 experiment of turning out wapiti in an Alpine district in 

 Europe. I am referring to Count Arco's attempt to domesticate 

 the wapiti in the mountains of Berchtesgaden, near Salzburg, made 

 in 1856. After losing some of the imported stock there were left 

 two stags and two does. When he finally, in 1861, abandoned the 

 experiment, and sold his herd of four American-born wapiti, 



WAPITI IN WINTKK. 



together with their offspring, consisting of four stags and six hinds, 

 to Prince Pless, in whose vast Silesian deer park the largest in 

 Europe their progeny are still to be seen, the following details 

 concerning the antlers of the American-born stags were noted. 

 The one stag when sold was ten years old, his last antlers when 

 shed weighed almost 3olb. avdp., and had eighteen points ; the 

 other stag was nine years old, his last antlers had twenty-two 

 points, those of the previous year twenty points, and those of the 



