172 



DEER-STALKING IN THE HIGHLANDS. 



in three months. The age of the hart may be told from an 

 examination of its horns until it has passed its sixth year. A 

 magnificent pair of horns is said to be still preserved, contain- 

 ing each thirty-three antlers that belonged to a stag killed by 

 the first king of Prussia. As the process of shedding seldom 

 comes under observation, even of the foresters, we quote from 

 Mr. Scrope the following notice v of one such instance. Whilst 

 the hart was "browsing, one of his antlers was seen to incline 

 leisurely to one side, and immediately to fall to the ground : 

 the stag tossed up his head as if in surprise, and began to 

 shake it pretty violently, when the remaining antler was dis- 

 carded also, and fell some distance from him. Relieved from 

 this weight, he expressed his sense of buoyancy by bounding 

 high from the ground, as if in sport, and then tossing his bare 

 head, dashed away in a confused and rapid manner." u It is 

 a remarkable fact," Mr. Scrope observes, " that few of the 

 horns thus cast are found." The hinds have been seen to eat 

 them, but it is scarcely conceivable that all the horns shed ev- 

 ery year can be thus disposed of. The velvet before men- 

 tioned is a thick leaden-colored skin, covering the new horns : 

 when this begins to peel off, the hart is in good condition for 

 the table and for the hunt. Such deer as have three points 

 at the upper extremity of their horns, are called royal, and 

 were, we presume, the individuals chosen in former days for 

 the king's sport. It was not uncommon in cases where the 

 hart had. in sportsman's phrase, showed unusually good sport, 

 and at last escaped, for the king to proclaim him ; after which 

 no one was to injure or molest him, under severe penalties. 

 There is an extraordinary connexion observable between the 

 general health of the hart and the horns. A wound on the 

 side of the body, will materially affect the corresponding horn, 

 and any disturbance of the system, as from a voyage, will in- 

 terfere with the horns for the time. 





