NEW ZEALAND RED DEER 91 



There are three main herds in the two islands, 

 namely, the Wairarapa, Nelson, and Otago. Perhaps 

 I should have said four, for in the Rakaia Gorge, 

 Canterbury, during the last two years some remark- 

 able heads have been obtained about which I shall 

 have something to say presently. 



A stag and two hinds landed in February, 1861, 

 from Lord Petre's park in Essex, were the pro- 

 genitors of the Nelson herd, and consequently the 

 first deer to be imported into the Colony. Of their 

 descendants I cannot speak from personal experience. 

 I saw some fifteen or twenty heads, and they were 

 almost without exception narrow, ugly, and unsym- 

 metrical. The herd is now working inland, and I 

 hear that some good stags have lately been killed, 

 though they do not approach the Otago heads in 

 length nor span ; nor those from Wairarapa in 

 weight. 



A common weakness in the heads obtained in the 

 Nelson district is the absence of bays. This character- 

 istic is also noticeable in some of the Wairarapa stags. 

 The Rev. C. Oliver attributes the narrow span of 

 these heads to " rigid adherence to original type." 

 In this I do not agree with him, though it may be a 

 contributory cause. The country abounds in bush, 

 and environment is much more likely to be the 

 predominating factor in determining the type of head 

 than heredity. I had a great argument on a similar 

 point with Mr. E. Hardcastle, who knows as much 

 about deer as any one in New Zealand. 



