DEER. 433 



and, according to the zoologists just cited, confirmed 

 by Mr. Hill's researches, the Antilles ; they mention 

 Martinique in particular as the native country of 

 some of their specimens. Jamaica will, for the fu- 

 ture, be added to the geographical range ; for, once 

 established, they will, doubtless, fulfil my friend's 

 forebodings, and maintain their ground. 



In the upland forests above the Caymanas, not far 

 from Spanish-Town, there are occasionally seen small 

 herds of Deer in a feral state, the descendents of 

 some that had been imported and escaped. Tradition 

 imputes their introduction partly to Mr. Dawkins, 

 who possessed the Caymanas property about fifty years 

 ago, and who at the same time naturalised the Ame- 

 rican Quail {Ortyx Virginiaiia) in the colony, and 

 partly to Sir Charles Price, the owner of Worthy Park 

 in St. Mary's, some thirty years earlier, who is said 

 to have had several deer running at the Farm, now 

 the property of Lord Carrington, within the Cay- 

 manas plain. These Deer are reported to have been 

 obtained from the Spanish Main, and are considered 

 to belong to the species known as the Cervus Mexi- 

 camis, which Humboldt describes as very abundant 

 in the small uninhabited islet of Cubagua ; a small 

 Deer, of a brownish red hue, spotted with white, and 

 of the latter colour beneath. 



Mr. Hill, to whom I am indebted for all I know 



on the subject, tells me that about the year 1841, a 



buck was obtained in the forests referred to, which 



was slaughtered and sold in the Spanish-Town 



u 



