CH. XXXI. TAME ROEBUCK. 183 



They have, however, discrimination enough to 

 assault women more frequently than men, being 

 evidently aware that they are the more helpless of 

 the two, and less able to resist. Even a roebuck, 

 when tamed, will do this ; and their activity and 

 strength render them no contemptible antagonists. 



I remember a roebuck, belonging to a clergyman 

 of the Established Church in Scotland, which one 

 day attacked and hurt a woman who was a zealous 

 supporter of the Free Church. The good lady 

 uttered the most bitter maledictions against the 

 clerical owner of the roe, vowing that he kept his 

 Satanic Majesty " in the shape of a horned beast," 

 for the sole purpose of attacking and destroying 

 Free Church people. 



A roe, though so beautiful an animal, is a most 

 unsatisfactory pet ; as they invariably either become 

 dangerous as they become tame, or else take to the 

 woods and are killed, their instinctive knowledge 

 of danger having apparently deserted them. 



