A ROYAL DEER. 209 



saw about a dozen deer standing on a ridge. When 

 they moved away Dyche caught sight of an enor- 

 mous buck which led the band. He stood a full head 

 and shoulders above the rest, and at once the natu- 

 ralist thought of the big buck of which McLaughlin 

 had spoken. Attempting a stalk, he soon found that 

 the animals were too wary. He did not like to be 

 outwitted, and started back on his trail until he was 

 well out of sight, when he began a wide detour in 

 order to get ahead of the band. After travelling 

 over a mile he reached a spot where he thought 

 he was ahead of the deer. While moving quietly 

 through the woods he caught a glimpse of a band of 

 deer in front of him. As they were looking directly 

 at him he stopped. Just then the big buck came 

 stepping proudly from the timber, gazing in the di- 

 rection of the hunter. As he stood with head erect 

 he made a magnificent picture, but the naturalist lost 

 no time looking at it. He sent a bullet through the 

 animal's breast and it dropped at the crack of the gun. 

 This was a fine specimen, the largest deer that 

 Dyche had ever seen. There was not an ounce of 

 fat on him. If he had been in the condition that 

 he undoubtedly was earlier in the year he would have 

 appeared as large as an elk. The measurements were 

 taken carefully and they were something wonderful 

 for a deer. His standing height was forty-four 

 inches from the top of his back to the flat of his hoof. 

 The circumference of the body behind the forelegs 

 was fifty-one inches ; that of the abdomen was fifty- 

 five inches. The skin, skull, and leg bones weighed 

 forty pounds, and the naturalist carried the load four 



