163 



THE GREAT RUSA. 



PLATE XL 



Cerf-Noir du Bengale ou Hippelaphe, F. Cuv. Hist. Nat. des 

 Mammif.The Great Rusa, Hamilton Smith in Griffith's 

 Cuvier, iv. p. 105. 



THIS Deer is thought hy Frederick Cuvier to 

 have been that described by Aristotle, while others 

 again are inclined to consider the description of that 

 naturalist might be equally applied to many of the 

 other Indian species. 



Frederick Cuvier mentions it as found in Bengal, 

 but he is nevertheless uncertain of the country whence 

 his specimen came ; and the islands in the Indian 

 Archipelago are much more probably the principal 

 abode of this animal. The Great Rusa is remark- 

 able for the ample mane which clothes its neck and 

 shoulders, giving it a resemblance in this respect to 

 a horse, whence the ancients applied their name of 

 Hippelaphus. The specimen in the Paris Collection 

 was at the shoulders about three feet in height, with 

 the dimensions of the other parts in proportion. The 



