272 MOSTLY MAMMALS 



All that concerns us here is the fact that among the loot 

 sent home from the destruction of the Yuangming Yuan 

 were the skins and antlers of certain deer which had been 

 shot in the gardens. These specimens, now in the British 

 Museum, appear to have been obtained by Colonel Saul, 

 although Consul Swinhoe was the gentleman by whom they 

 were sent to this country. 



Although there does not appear to be any record that 

 such was the case, these specimens may be taken as an 

 indication that among the other attractions of the grounds 

 of the Summer Palace were herds of deer, kept either for 

 the purposes of sport or to enhance the beauty of the 

 landscape. The best of the three specimens sent home 

 was a young stag in the winter coat, of which a coloured 

 figure was given in the Proceedings of the Zoological 

 Society of London for 1861. By the late Dr. Gray, then 

 keeper of the Zoological Department of the British Museum, 

 this deer was regarded as belonging to an ill-defined species 

 named many years before. Two years later this identifi- 

 cation was disputed by Mr. Swinhoe, by whom it was 

 regarded as representing a new species, for which the 

 name Cervus hortulorum the deer of the (Summer Palace) 

 Gardens was, appropriately enough, suggested. 



For many years this species was regarded as inseparable 

 from one inhabiting Manchuria, which is now known to 

 be a very different animal. But among the deer now 

 living in the Duke of Bedford's park at Woburn are a 

 herd of a very beautiful species from Northern Manchuria, 

 which is now ascertained to be identical with Mr. Swin- 

 hoe's Cervus hortulorum. These Peking deer (as it has 

 now been agreed to call the species) are remarkable for 

 the extraordinary difference between their summer and 

 winter dress a difference so great that persons who have 



