DEfcR KIND. 341 



There is but very little difference between the 

 European elk and the American moose-deer, as 

 they are but varieties of the same animal. It 

 may be rather larger in America than with us, as 

 in the forests of that unpeopled country it receives 

 less disturbance than in our own. In all places, 

 however, it is timorous and gentle ; content with 

 its pasture, and never willing to disturb any other 

 animal, when supplied itself. 



The European elk grows to about seven or eight 

 feet high. In the year 1742 there was a female 

 of this animal shown at Paris, which was caught 

 in a forest of Red Russia, belonging to the Cham 

 of Tartary :* it was then but young, and its height 

 was even at that time six feet seven inches ; but 

 the describer observes, that it has since become 

 much taller and thicker, so that we may suppose 

 this female at least seven feet high. There have 

 been no late opportunities of seeing the male ; but 

 by the rule of proportion, we may estimate his 

 size at eight or nine feet at the least, which is 

 about twice as high as an ordinary horse. The 

 height, however, of the female, which was mea- 

 sured, was but six feet seven inches Paris mea- 

 sure, or almost seven English feet high. It was 

 ten feet from the tip of the nose to the insertion 

 of the tail, and eight feet round the body. The 

 hair was very long and coarse, like that of a wild 

 boar. The ears resembled those of a mule, and 

 were a foot and a half long. The upper jaw was 

 longer by six inches than the lower; and like 



* Dictionnaire Raisonne des Animaux. Au noiti, F.Ian. 



