AUGUST. 271 



reminded me of the descriptions of that of the gazelle, which 

 I should think can scarcely be superior in beauty and softness. 

 It usually carries its neck upright, and there is a fairy light- 

 ness and elegance in its whole appearance, which make it 

 the prettiest of pets. 



I have been informed by a neighbour that he once shot a 

 deer, which was running up a very steep hill : after receiving 

 the ball, it continued to run twenty or thirty yards, when it 

 gave a vast bound sideways, and dropped dead. On exami- 

 nation, the ball was found to have passed through the centre 

 of the heart. It is no uncommon thing for deer, when pur- 

 sued by scent-hounds, to leap aside from their course into a 

 thicket, in hopes of lying concealed till the dogs pass by. 

 They are said to shed their horns in spring, and to have an 

 additional prong (I believe to a certain limit) every year. 

 During summer the horns are small, and covered with a 

 velvety skin. 



C. — It seems a pity to kill such gentle, inoffensive ani- 

 mals, as their occasional trespasses are not worth mentioning. 



F. — I have known as many as seventy deer killed at a 

 single hunt, in the south : this appears to me a useless waste ; 

 the dominion over the inferior animals being given to man 

 for the supply of his necessities, or for his protection : cer- 

 tainly not for the wanton destruction of animal life. But 

 " might makes right " is too often the maxim acted upon, if 

 not acknowledged. 



