110 FALLOW-DEER. 



the rutting-season, it is dangerous to approach the male. 

 As the flesh is not much esteemed, they are seldom taken 

 under the immediate protection of man, like the fallow- 

 deer, but are left to range in forests and chases, where 

 they furnish diversion to hunters. The stag is supposed 

 to live about forty years. It has good eyes, an exquisite 

 smell, and a quick sense of hearing. It appears fond of 

 music ; and shows no particular dread of man, unless when 

 attended by dogs, or furnished with arms : against dogs 

 it will sometimes make head with peculiar resolution. 

 Indeed, its intrepidity on emergencies is very great ; and 

 William, duke of Cumberland, having caused a tiger and 

 a stag to be inclosed in one area, the latter made such a 

 bold defence that the savage beast was obliged to fly. 



THE FALLOW-DEER. 



Though the fallow-deer and the stag are as nearly allied 

 as any two animals can possibly be, they show a rooted 

 aversion to each other ; and will neither associate nor 

 breed together. 



The fallow-deer, the male of which is called a buck and 

 the female a doe, is a well-known animal, and is kept in 

 parks to serve the purposes of pleasure and luxury. Hav- 

 ing undergone a species of domestication, it varies very 

 much in colour; and climate and food have a very sensi- 

 ble effect on its size, and the flavour of its flesh. The 

 English venison is reckoned superior to that of any other 

 country; and no where do the inhabitants seem more 

 capable of appreciating its good or bad qualities. Good 

 eating is, indeed, here reduced to a science ; but the 

 proficiency acquired in it is generally in an inverse ratio 

 to the improvement of the understanding. 



The doe goes eight months with young, and commonly 

 brings forth one at a time. From July to October, the 

 flesh of the buck is most in season ; and from November 

 to February the doe is preferred : the haunch of the latter, 

 however, is small and insipid, compared with the former. 



