3 i8 THE ELK AND 



Caefar, is the firil Greek author in which the 

 name a**, occurs ; and Pliny *, who was near- 

 ly contemporary with Paufanias, has given forne 



obfcure 



Paufan. in Eliacis Alee nominata fera fpecie inter cer- 



vum et camelum eft; nafcitur apud Celtas; explorari invefti- 

 garique ab hominibus animalium fola non poteft, fed obiter 

 aliquando dum alias venantur feras, haec etiam incidit. Sa- 

 gacilfimam effe aiunt, et hominis odnre per longinquum inter- 

 vallum percepto, in foveas et profundiffimos fpecusfefe abdere. 

 Venatores montem vel campum ad mille ftadia circundant, 

 et contra&o fubinde ambitu, nifi intra ilium fera delitefcat, 

 non alia ratione earn capere poffunt ; Idem. In Boeoticis. 



* Septentrio fert et equorum greges ferorum, ficut afino- 

 rum Afia et Africa : Praeter ea alcem, ni proceritas auriura 

 et cervicis diftinguat, jumenta fimilem : Item notam in Scan- 

 dinavia infula, nee unquam vifam in hoc orbe, multis tamen 

 narratam, machlin, haud diifimilem illi, fed nullo fuffraginum 

 flexu ; ideoque non cubantem, fed acclivem arbori in fomno, 

 caque incifa ad infidias, capi ; velocitatis memoratae. Labrum 

 ei fuperius praegrande : Ob id retrograditur in pafcendo, 

 ne in priora tendens, involvatur ; Plin.hiji. nat. lib. 8. cap. 15. 

 — — — Mutat colores et Schytarum tarandus. ■ ■ Tarando 

 magnitudo quae bovi, caput majus cervino, nee abfimile ; 

 cornua ramofa ; ungulae bifidae : Villus magnitudine ur- 

 forum, fed cum libuit fui coloris effe, afini fimilis eft : Tergo- 



ris tanta duritia ut thoraces ex eo faciant. Metuens 



latet, ideoque raro capitur ; Plin. Hift. nat. lib. 8. cap. 34. 



I hav« quoted thefe two paftages of Pliny, in which, 



under the denomination of alee, viacklis, and tarandus, he 

 feems to point out three different animals. But I fhall after- . 

 wards ihow, that both macklis and alee apply folely to the 

 elk ; and that, though moft naturalifts believe the tarandus- of 

 Pliny to be the elk, it is much more probable that he means 

 the rain- deer by this appellation. I acknowledge, however, 

 that the indications of Pliny are fo confufed, and even falfc, 

 that it is difficult to determine this point with precifion. The 

 commentators upon Pliny, though they had much erudition, 



were- 



