ANIMALS OF THE 



out to sea, and swims from one island to another, 

 although there may be some leagues distance be- 

 tween them. 



The cry of the hind, or female, is not so loud 

 as that of the male, and is never excited but by 

 apprehension for herself or her young. It need 

 scarcely be mentioned that she has no horns, or 

 that she is more feeble and unfit for hunting than 

 the male. When once they have conceived, they 

 separate from the males, and then they both herd 

 apart. The time of gestation continues between 

 eight and nine months, and they generally pro- 

 duce but one at a time. Their usual season for 

 bringing forth is about the month of May, or the 

 beginning of June, during which they take great 

 care to hide their young in the most obscure 

 thickets. Nor is this precaution without reason, 

 since almost every creature is then a formidable 

 enemy. The eagle, the falcon, the osprey, the 

 wolf, the dog, and all the rapacious family of the 

 cat kind, are in continual employment to find out 

 her retreat. But, what is more unnatural still, 

 the stag himself is a professed enemy, and she is 

 obliged to use all her arts to conceal her young 

 from him as from the most dangerous of her pur- 

 suers. At this season, therefore, the courage of 

 the male seems transferred to the female ; she 

 defends her young against her less formidable 

 opponents by force ; and when pursued by the 

 hunter, she ever offers herself to mislead him 

 from the principal objects of her concern. She 

 flies before the hounds for half the day, and then 

 returns to her young, whose life she has thus pre- 



