NORTH-WESTERN DEER SURPASS SCOTCH DEER. 7 7 



the stricken do not fall till they are entirely lost to 

 the hunter. 



In Scotland the red deer is vaunted and his praises 

 sung, for he is truly a noble beast, alike trying the 

 hunter's courage and endurance; but if Caledonia's 

 rocky glens and heath-covered mountains boast of pos- 

 sessing such a hero, the far distant plains and central 

 plateaus of America have a right to glor}% for they feed 

 and shelter a nobler quarry, if size and power con- 

 stitute such. The New Land surpasses us in the 

 magnitude of its rivers, mountains, waterfalls, and 

 trees; in her animal creation, also, she is ahead. 

 Facts are facts; and when such is the case, the 

 Britishers should surrender with a good grace; for 

 to contradict, even evince scepticism, would only prove 

 our ignorance. 



But a thought arises in my mind, will the western 

 world long possess those representatives of animal life 

 of which she has a just right to be proud ? I say no, 

 if the work of destruction continues as now, for every 

 border ruffian, every squatter, is allowed to slaughter 

 at his will, and at all seasons, creatures, the posses- 

 sion of which any land has a right to be proud. 



To the old mountaineers and Indian traders this 

 animal was known by one appellation, and that an 

 erroneous one ; and so constant has become its use, 

 that even among the educated classes this misnomer 

 will be heard ; thus the wapitti is invariably denomi- 

 nated an elk, the proper name for a moose ; so that 

 the sportsman desirous of devoting his time to the 

 pursuit of Wapitti deer, in seeking information where 

 they are to be found, had better inquire for the animal 

 under his false sobriquet. It is strange how many 



