-{Papular Stctumari) of &m'matrtt Mature. 175 



j position, whilst they swim powerless around 

 him. On land, even, a Stag at bay has great 

 : advantage over the hounds, who exhaust 

 i themselves with their clamour, whilst he is 

 i in a comparative state of rest, and recovers 

 , his wind." Powerful as the Stag is, he has 

 ! never been known to attack a man, unless 

 ! he has been driven into a corner, and hard 

 pressed, without the means of escape. With 

 regard to hunting the Stag, the pursuit, as 

 carried on in the Highlands, is one capable 

 i of rousing all the manly ardour and energy 

 of youth and manhood, whilst all the powers 

 I of both body and mind are called into action. 

 i The beauty, graceful, and magnificent bear- 

 ing of the animal, his sagacity in evading 

 the stratagems of the hunter, or deer stalker, 

 and his courage when at bay, add greatly to 

 the pleasure of the chase. In stalking deer, 

 the animal is generally shot ; but if he is 

 only wounded, and has power to fly, then 

 the dogs are slipped to the pursuit. But, in 

 olden times, the chief reliance for pulling 

 and killing the deer, was in the dogs ; and 

 the flcetness and courage of their hounds 

 were the pride of nobles and kings." 



The food of Stags varies according to the 

 season. In autumn they search for the buds 

 of green shrubs, the flowers of broom or 

 heath, the leaves of brambles, &c. During 

 the snows of winter they feed on the bark 

 and moss of trees ; and in mild weather they 

 browse in the fields. In the present culti- 

 vated state of this country, Stags are almost 

 unknown in their wild, natural condition ; 

 and such as remain amongst us are kept 

 under the name of Red Deer, together with 

 the Fallow Deer; but their excessive ferocity 

 during the rutting season, and the coarseness 

 of their flesh, have contributed in a great 

 measure to effect their almost total exter- 

 mination. In Scotland, however, they still 

 exist in considerable numbers ; and though 

 it was deemed necessary to abolish Stag- 

 hunting by act of parliament, in consequence 

 of the multitudinous gatherings of the clans, 

 upon this pretext, being often made subser- 

 vient to political purposes, " a Stag-hunt is 

 even in the present day the scene of much 

 of the excitement and profuse hospitality 

 by which this noble sport was characterized 

 in days of yore." 



" The Stag is an ancient denizen of the 

 forests of this country. From the most 

 remote periods, it has been the favourite 

 object of the chase ; and the severe forest- 

 laws of our earlier Norman monarchs suffi- 

 ciently attest the importance which they 

 attached to the sport. The afforesting of 

 vast tracts of country, by which not only 

 single cottages were destroyed, but whole 

 villages swept away, and churches desecrated 

 and demolished, was the fertile source of 

 misery to the poorer inhabitants, and of in- 

 justice to the ancient proprietors of the soil ; 

 and the cruel inflictions of the oppressive 

 laws which were enacted to preserve the 

 Deer, increased tenfold the curse arising 

 from this tyrannical passion for the chase, 

 for it was a crime less severely penal to kill 

 a man than to destroy or take a Deer." 



" The ancient customs and laws of ' Ve- 

 nerie,' that noble science which our simple 



ancestors looked upon as one of the first 

 accomplishments of the high-bred noble, 

 and a knowledge of which was essential to 

 his education, were formal and technical to 

 a most absurd and ludicrous degree. A few 

 of the terms, betokening the different ages 

 of the Stag and Ilind, are still retained, 

 though somewhat altered. The young of 

 either sex is called a CALF ; after a few 

 months the male becomes distinguished by 

 the growth of the bossets, or frontal protu- 

 berances, on which the horns are afterwards 

 developed, which during the first year are 

 merely rounded knobs, from whence he takes 

 the name of KJJOBBER. In the second year 

 they are longer and pointed, and are called 

 dags, and the animal has now the name of 

 BROCKET. In the third year, the first, or 

 brow antler, has made its appearance, and 

 the Deer becomes a SFAYAD. In the fourth, 

 the bez-antler is added, and he is then termed 

 a STAOGARD. He is a STAG in the fifth year, 

 when the third antler, or royal, appears: and 

 in the sixth, the commencement of the sur- 

 royal, or crown, is formed ; when he takes 

 the name of HAKT, which name he retains 

 through life. At this time he is called a 

 Hart or Stag of ten, probably because the 

 branches, including the sur-royal, frequently 

 amount to that number. After the seventh 

 year he is said to be crocked, or palmed, 

 or crowned, according to the number of 

 branches composing the sur-royal. The 

 female is a Calf'm the first year, a Brocket's 

 sister in the second, and in the third, and 

 ever afterwards, a Ilind." LdVs British 

 Quadrupeds. 



VIRGINIAN DEER. (Cervus Virginia- 

 nus.) This species is found in vast herds in 

 the northern parts of America, and is an 

 animal of great importance to the Indian 

 natives. They are of a light brown colour, 

 I and about the size of the Fallow Deer, but 

 | their tails are longer. Their horns are 

 slender, bend greatly forwards, and have 

 numerous branches on the interior sides, but 

 no brow antlers. They are of a restless and 

 wandering disposition, and in hard winters 

 are observed to feed, much on the different 

 species of usnea or string moss, which hangs 

 from the trees : they are also fond of resort- 

 ing to places impregnated with salt, and 

 vulgarly called salt-licks ; and it is at these 

 favourite haunts that the hunters generally 

 succeed in killing them. Their flesh, though 

 dry, is very valuable to the Indians, who 

 cure it for their winter provision. 



PORCINE DEER. (Cervus porcmus.) An 

 Indian species of the cervine genus ; about 

 two feet three inches in height ; the body 

 clumsy ; the legs fine and slender ; and the 

 tail about eight inches long. It has slender 

 trifurcated horns, about a foot in length : 

 the colour, on the upper part of the neck, 

 body, and sides is brown ; the belly and 

 rump lighter. 



[For other species of the genus Cervus, or 

 Deer tribe, see Axis ELK FALLOW-DKEH 

 MUN JAC REINDEER ROEBUCK WA- 

 PITI.] We may mention that there are 

 many species of Deer, chiefly found in South 

 America and in Asia ; specimens of most of 



