DEER KIND. 337 



When these fall, and new ones begin to appear, 

 the roebuck does not retire as the stag to the 

 covert of the wood, but continues its usual haunts, 

 only keeping down its head to avoid striking its 

 horns against the branches of trees, the pain of 

 which it seems to feel with exquisite sensibility. 

 The stag, who sheds his horns in summer, is oblig- 

 ed to seek a retreat from the flies, that at that 

 time greatly incommode him ; but the roebuck, 

 who sheds them in winter, is under no such ne- 

 cessity ; and, consequently, does not separate 

 from its little family, but keeps with the female 

 all the year round.* 



As the growth of the roebuck, and its arrival 

 at maturity, is much speedier than that of the stag, 

 so its life is proportionably shorter. It seldom is 

 found to extend above twelve or fifteen years ; 

 and if kept tame, it does not live above six or 

 seven. It is an animal of a very delicate con- 

 stitution, requiring variety of food, air, and exer- 

 cise. It must be paired with a female, and kept 

 in a park of at least a hundred acres. They may 

 easily be subdued, but never thoroughly tamed. 

 No arts can teach them to be familiar with the 

 feeder, much less attached to him. They still 

 preserve a part of their natural wildness, and are 

 subject to terrors without a cause. They some- 

 times, in attempting to escape, strike themselves 

 with such force against the walls of their enclosure, 

 that they break their limbs, and become utterly 

 disabled. Whatever care is taken to tame them, 



* Bufibn, vol. xii. p. 88. 

 VOL. II. Y 



