8o 



THE TWO-TOED ARTIODACTYLA. 



exhibit in the beams the roundness and cur- 

 vature characteristic of our common deer, but 

 scarcely ever give off more than three tines, 

 one of which, the brow-tine, is situated near 

 the burr above the eyes. 



As type of this group an illustration is 

 given of the Axis or Spotted Deer (Axis 

 maculata {Cervus axis)), fig. 162, whose 



beautiful brownish-yellow fur is marked with 

 a dark stripe on the back, and is dotted 

 over with numerous white spots. The antlers 

 are thin and almost smooth. This beautiful 

 stag, which does not quite attain the size 

 of the fallow-deer, inhabits the jungles of 

 India. It is often hunted. It is propa- 

 gated pretty easily in our zoological gar- 



5^5%&.:^^-<?-n -^^-^ 



Fig. 161. — The Pampas Deer or Guazui {Blastoceros camftstris) page 79 



dens, but can scarcely stand the cold of our 

 winters. 



[A close ally of this species is the sambur or 

 samber deer (Cervus Aristotelis), which in Ceylon, 

 where it is much hunted, goes under the name of 

 the "elk." The hunting of this deer is described 

 by Sir Samuel Baker in the following enthusiastic 

 terms in his Rifle and Hound in Ceylon: — 



" It is a glorious sport certainly to a man who 

 thoroughly understands it; the voice of every hound 

 familiar to his ear; the particular kind of game 

 that is found is at once known to him long before 

 he is in view by the style of the hunting. If an 

 elk is found the hounds follow with a burst straight 

 as a line and at a killing pace directly up the hill, 

 till he at length turns and bends his headlong 

 course for some stronghold in a deep river to bay. 

 Listening to the hounds till certain of their course, 



a thorough knowledge of the country at once tells 

 the huntsman of their destination, and away he goes. 

 " He tightens his belt by a hole, and steadily 

 he starts at a long swinging trot, having made up 

 his mind for a day of it. Over hills and valleys, 

 through tangled and pathless forests, but all well 

 known to him, steady he goes at the same pace on 

 the level, extra steam downhill, and stopping for 

 a moment to listen for the hounds on every elevated 

 spot. At length he hears them! No; it was a 

 bird. Again he fancies that he hears a distant 

 sound — was it the wind .' No ; there it is — it is old 

 Smut's voice — he is at bay ! Yoick to him ! he shouts 

 till his lungs are well-nigh cracked; and through 

 thorns and jungles, bogs and ravines, he rushes 

 towards the welcome sound. Thick-tangled bushes 

 armed with a thousand hooked thorns suddenly 

 arrest his course; it is the dense fringe of under- 

 wood that borders every forest; the open plain is 



