120 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXVII. 



grey and their jaws nearly toothless : yet they were 

 still in good, and even fat condition. In animals, 

 age and cunning supply the place of strength and 

 activity ; so that the eagle and fox are still able to 

 live well, even when they have arrived at the most 

 advanced age assigned to them. 



Very old deer become light-coloured and greyish, 

 especially about the head and neck, and have a 

 bleached and worn-looking appearance over their 

 whole body. Their horns, also, lose much of their 

 rich appearance both as to colour and size, becom- 

 ing not only smaller, but* also decreasing in the 

 number of their points. The Highlanders assign 

 a great age to the red deer ; indeed they seem to 

 suppose that it has no limit, save a rifle ball ; and 

 they tell wonderful stories of famous stags, who 

 have been seen and known for a long series of 

 years in certain districts. Though these accounts 

 are doubtless much exaggerated^ it is tolerably cer- 

 tain that their life extends to from twenty to thirty 

 years. I do not imagine that in these days stags 

 have much chance of reaching that term. At the 

 age of seven or eight years, the animal having ar- 

 rived at full perfection as to size and beauty of 

 antler, they are marked down for destruction by 

 the numerous sportsmen who wage war against 

 them in every part of the north of the island. Their 



