UNGULATA 43 



there were many old diggers still about the neighbourhood. From 

 one cause or another they did not succeed well. Mr Hardcastle states 

 that they are still to be met with on the Horse Range, but they have 

 always been heavily shot by settlers. 



The seven which were liberated on the Morven Hills were part 

 of a shipment received from the estates of the Earl of Dalhousie in 

 Forfarshire, Scotland. They are the only lot of pure Scottish red 

 deer in the country. They multiplied at a great rate and have spread 

 over the country between Lakes Wanaka, Hawea and Ohau. They 

 have worked their way up the Hunter and Makarora rivers, across 

 the Haast Pass into South Westland, and right up to the neighbour- 

 hood of Mount Cook. Most of this country runs from 3000 to 

 7000 feet in height, and much of it is very steep and rugged. But it 

 contains much bush in the valleys and gullies, and the open country 

 is well grassed in summer. Hardcastle says : 



The North Otago Stags maintain the true Scottish type of antler, but 

 they grow to much greater length than the antlers of any stags that have 

 been shot in the British Isles. The antlers are also remarkable for their 

 symmetry and perfection in the development of the tines, and particularly 

 the lower tines .... Some magnificent heads have been got, including a 

 17- and i8-pointer, and two Royals each 46 inches in length of antlers. 

 The coats of the stags are generally shaggy, owing, no doubt, to the severe 

 climate in winter. 



Recently (1918) Mr Hardcastle informs me that the record length for 

 an Otago red deer head is 49 inches (J. Forbes, Christchurch) ; 

 record spread 50^ inches (J. Faulks, Makarora); and record points 20 

 (J. Fraser, Mount Aspiring); "and I think a 2O-pointer was got in 

 the Makarora." In 1895 the Otago Society obtained two fine stags 

 from the Hunt Club, Melbourne, to add to the North Otago herd. 

 I do not know what special strain these belonged to. Again in 1913 

 the Society imported a stag and six hinds from Warnham Park, 

 England, the object being to introduce new blood into the herds. 



(e) One stag was brought over from Hobart to Christchurch in 

 1867 by Mr A. M. Johnson, and was kept in the Acclimatisation 

 Gardens for a time. In 1897 the Canterbury Society imported nine 

 red deer, but it is not recorded from whence, and liberated them in 

 the gorge of the Rakaia River. They have increased rapidly since, 

 herds of 40 and more having been seen from time to time. Some 

 of the heaviest heads secured in New Zealand have been got from 

 this herd. According to Mr Hardcastle the record length of a head 

 from the Rakaia Gorge is 48^ inches (Williams, England); the 

 record spread 465 inches (G. Sutherland, Christchurch), and the 

 record points 24, from the same head. But in 1918-19 Mr Barrer 

 of Wellington secured one with a length of 50 inches. 



