CHAPTER IX. 

 MUSK DEER. 



THIS is not an animal either difficult to find or much of a trophy, but 

 there are some points about its construction, appearance, and habits that 

 I found worthy of note. From well-known books I had learnt a good 

 deal before I ever saw one ; still, my remarks may be of interest to even 

 a well-read or interested person. 



The long canine teeth of the male, protruding well below the chin, are 

 certainly carried by no other deer except the khakur, and his are neither 

 so long nor so white ; their use seems to be pulling up moss and other 

 food through herbage or even snow. Doubtless they would be a very 

 efficient weapon in a fight, but I have never heard of a musk deer having 

 been known to use them for that purpose. 



The peculiar texture of the coat is another well-known feature, but it is 

 certainly curious to see such minature porcupine quills forming the hairy 

 covering of a deer. It is quite useless for preservation except as leather, 

 which it supplies delightfully soft and clean, if dressed white. 



The musk gland is only found in males, and cannot be described as 

 valuable except from a mercenary point of view, as the odour is too over- 

 powering and penetrating to suit any but those people who indulge their 

 tastes in a gluttonous manner. The natives have a great hankering after 

 the pod, and will rob you on every possible occasion of its contents, if 

 not of the pod itself. 



The appearance of this little deer ascending a steep slope in quick, 

 short jumps, with its very long and pointed ears directed forward, always 

 reminded me of a kangaroo ; bar the tail, the resemblance was very 

 strong, for neither sex have any horns whatever. 



There is another peculiarity about it ; on each foot the small false hoofs 

 that hang from the pastern above the proper ones are very long, quite an 

 inch, and very sharp. Consequently, its tracks consist of the usual deer 

 type, but diverging or splaying a good deal at the toes, with two indenta- 

 tions in rear, caused by these false hoofs ; each foot thus makes four 

 distinct marks on the ground. 



Another very curious trait of this beautiful animal is the noise it makes 

 when bounding along a hill ; there is a regular clatter, very much 

 resembling the castanets of a negro minstrel troupe. I studied the 

 subject carefully, and decided it was caused by the hoofs and false hoofs 

 meeting together smartly as the animal rose from the ground, the removal 

 of weight from the feet being so instantaneous that they came together 



