HISTORY. 237 



and squatting upon the ground. The only method of killing 

 the older animals is by shooting them. When the keepers ap- 

 proach for that purpose, the poor creatures seem to be aware 

 of their danger : they gallop away with speed in a dense mass, 

 preserving, we are informed, a profound silence, and keeping 

 close by the coverts and fences : the cows, in the mean time, 

 that have calves forsake the herd, and repair to the places 

 where their young are concealed, in order to defend them. 



The remains of the same remarkable race are to be found 

 in several parks in England, differing only from those de- 

 scribed in so far as differences of situation may be supposed 

 to have affected their characters. Of these, the most re- 

 markable are those kept in the ancient park of Chillingham, 

 the property of the Earl of Tankerville. These appear to 

 have remained the nearest in their characters to the original 

 race. The herd at present amounts to about eighty in num- 

 ber, consisting of about twenty-five bulls, forty cows, and 

 fifteen steers. The eye-lashes and tips of the horns are 

 black, the muzzle is brown, the inside and a portion of the 

 external part of the ears are reddish-brown, and all the rest 

 of the animal is white. The bulls have merely the rudiments 

 of manes, consisting of a ridge of coarse hairs upon the neck. 

 The bulls fight for supremacy, and the vanquished submit to 

 the law of superior strength. They are very shy and wild, 

 and start off on the approach of danger; and, when they 

 threaten an attack, they make circles around the object, ap- 

 proaching nearer at each time. Lord Tankerville describes 

 their method of retreat, which is eminently characteristic of 

 their wild habits. Like the Red Deer, they place the in- 

 equalities of the ground between them and their pursuers : 

 they set off in a kind of walk, which increases to a trot, and 

 then, having got the ground between them and the object, 

 they retreat at a gallop, availing themselves of the inequali- 

 ties of the ground in such a manner, that they will traverse 

 the whole park almost without being seen. The females 

 conceal their young, returning to suckle them several times 



