IN THE FAR WEST. 207 



to eleven or twelve hundred pounds, although its body seldom 

 exceeds seven feet in length. Its antlers, which distinguish it 

 so much from its kindred, attain a weight of from forty to 

 sixty pounds, measuring from root to tip, along the curve, 

 from four to five and a half feet, and they are about the same 

 distance apart at the points. They do not arrive at perfection 

 of proportions until after the fifth year, when the palm is 

 frequently twelve inches in width. A male calf produces only- 

 two small knobs the first season ; but in the second these 

 attain a length of seven or eight inches, and in the fourth 

 they are sufficiently developed to become palmated. The 

 antlers are cast in December or January, and appear above 

 the skin in March or April, and so rapidly do they grow that 

 though they are in the " velvet," in July, and so soft as to 

 bleed very easily, yet by the latter end of August they are 

 hard and full-grown, and their adult owner is then ready to 

 test their eighteen points against all rivals in love. It is 

 only the male, as a rule, that is furnished with these powerful 

 weapons, yet cases have been known in which they also adorned 

 the female. 



The latter, which is much smaller than the male, brings 

 forth her young in May, the number being confined to one at 

 a birth for the first two years, but after that she has two at a 

 time. The calves remain with their mother long after she has 

 ceased nursing them, and, if a herd is together, form a per- 

 manent portion of it. Gravid females always secrete them- 

 selves in the densest portion of the forest early in the season 

 while carrying their young, and remain there until September, 

 when they course over it in search of mates, and cause it to 

 resound with their wild erotic cries. The period of gestation 

 is about eight months, and the calves are so strong at their 

 birth that they are able to run about in a lively manner in 

 the course of a few days. The mother is much attached to 

 them, but the same cannot be said of the sire, for he is 

 sometimes their worst foe until they are able to take care of 

 themselves. 



The rutting season commences in September and lasts six 

 or seven weeks, and during that time whenever the males 



