396 SPORT IN EUROPE 



numbers in Poland, the districts of Bielovege, Skernewitz, and Spala 

 yielding- annually over a hundred stags to the Imperial hunt. They 

 are carefully preserved for the Emperor of Russia and his guests, who 

 usually shoot over the grounds once a year. Driving and stalking 

 are both employed. The low, undulating country renders sport 

 comparatively easy. Heads run to a fair size ; I should say, some- 

 what above the average of German park deer. But by far the 

 orandest red deer is the Caucasian ollcn. I need not 2^0 into the 

 long and weary discussion as to whether this deer constitutes a 

 distinct species or not ; much has already been written on the 



subject.* I will only call the reader's attention to the 

 Deer of the ' 



Caucasus ^^-^t that the form of their antlers varies considerably, 



and its g^j-^^-j ^^^ \^ j-j-j^ majority of cases a well-defined cup at 



Affinities. 



the top gives them a close resemblance to the common 



European red deer. Moreover, the stag's call is also that of a red 



deer. Their winter coat is of a greyish hue ; the skull is longer, 



and the body altogether larger and heavier, than that of an ordinary 



Central European stag. The nearest ally would appear to be the 



deer of Asia Minor and the Carpathians, with which they are almost 



identical. Deer are distributed over the whole of the Caucasus, but 



the finest antlers are carried by stags inhabiting the valleys of the 



numerous Kouban tributaries. They also run to larger weights there, 



the average weighing from thirty-five to forty-five stone, though 



I have seen a very heavy stag killed In the Karaiaz district of 



the Southern Caucasus, whose body must have weighed over forty- 



* Vide "Deer Stalking in the Caucasus." Article in the Eiicyclopcvdia of Sport by 

 Demidoff Prince San Donato. 



