72 A SPORTING PARADISE 



hoof there was a sort of furrow, which also struck 

 us as being a work of art, not nature ; the furrow 

 did not penetrate the horn like a sand-crack. 



" The showman must have been tired of his 

 beast, for he tried to sell her (it was a female) 

 to me for ^2 5, and said that he could warrant 

 her quiet in harness. I will not be certain, but 

 think the man called her six years old. Sup- 

 posing this to be so, and the year 1856 the 

 time when I saw her (I know it was in the 

 transition period between Harrow and the army), 

 I much doubt there being any red deer in the 

 New Forest to be her parent. Mr. Grantley 

 Berkley's book, published in 1852, describes the 

 practical extermination of the fallow deer, and 

 mentions a doubtful tradition concerning the 

 existence of one red hind about 1850." 



The original interest I took in this subject 

 was during my undergraduate days, when I had 

 access to the University Library during the 

 morning. I have since been satisfied to ignore 

 the subject, after reading the above testimony, 

 though it is my opinion that zoologists too often 

 neglect the important subject of hybridisation, 

 and know very little about it. 



