98 STALKS ABROAD 



deer from England. None were allowed to be 

 killed until last year (1907) when four stags were 

 shot. In this district the winter is rather shorter 

 than in Otago, the grass feed not so good, and 

 bush feeding much better. The stags killed there 

 so far have carried the heaviest heads in New 

 Zealand, a remarkable point about them being the 

 extraordinary length of the brow tines. They cannot 

 strictly speaking be regarded as wild deer, but I 

 include their measurements with those of some other 

 heads at the end of the chapter as showing what 

 good feed and shelter will do for a stag. It is but 

 rarely that a New Zealand stag is weighed. The 

 nature of the country precludes it. Ponies, as a 

 rule, are not available, and the stalker and his 

 guide have to carry any portion of the venison 

 they may want into camp themselves. From rough 

 estimates, however, 30-stone stags must be fairly 

 numerous in both islands. A stag killed in 1904 

 near Lake Hawea reached the enormous weight of 

 44 stones 4 Ibs. Such monsters must be very 

 unusual, even in New Zealand. I know of one 

 which was vouched for as scaling 35 stones 10 Ibs., 

 and another killed, I think, by Mr. A. E. Leatham, 

 of 26 stones 8 Ibs. New Zealand deer un- 

 doubtedly are bigger than Scottish red deer, though 

 I confess that on the hill this fact did not strike me 

 as much as I had anticipated. I give some measure- 

 ments of two stags supplied to me by Mr. Hard- 

 castle. 



