ALLEN: mammalia: cervid/e. 15 



the excerpts from Mr. Hatcher's "Narrative," the range of this species in 

 Patagonia is confined to the immediate vicinity of the Cordilleras. Mr. 

 Brown, in referring to this species, says : 



"No deer are to be found on the plains, but one species is fairly abundant 

 in the mountains. It is about the size of the Virginia deer ; the males armed 

 with a pair of two-pronged antlers. I killed two and saw many, but only 

 the one species. Unlike the guanaco that have never seen man, these deer 

 are very tame, allowing one to approach within a few yards of them." 

 (Barnum Brown, MSS. notes.) 



Mr. Hatcher, in writing of the region to the east and southeast of Lake 

 Buenos Aires, thus refers to the deer : 



"While nowhere in the plains region of Patagonia had we seen the 

 Chilian deer, Cariacits chilensis, yet I was not greatly surprised to en- 

 counter it here in a region which, though destitute of forests and distant 

 from fifty to one hundred and twenty-five miles from the Andes, had all 

 the characteristics of a rugged mountainous region, when one descended 

 from the narrow, flat-topped tablelands to the bottoms of the canons. I 

 not only met with deer on various occasions in these canons, but on re- 

 turning to camp after this my first protracted journey in this region, as I 

 was traveling up the chasm in which we had pitched our tent, I came 

 suddenly upon a band of three at a distance of hardly more than half a 

 mile from camp. Since we had thought of remaining where we were for 

 the winter, this seemed an excellent opportunity for providing an ample 

 supply of jerked venison, which is far superior to the flesh of the guanaco." 

 (Hatcher, /. c, p. 185.) 



His first meeting with this animal, however, was in the primeval forests 

 at the base of the Andes, some distance to the southwest near Mayer 

 Basin. He says : 



"After a few hours spent in a vain search for mammalian remains in 

 these beds I started for camp, returning by way of the forest through 

 which I had passed on my way thither. Just as I was emerging from 

 the wooded tract into the meadow land in front, I came suddenly and 

 unexpectedly upon three deer browsing quietly in the grass along the 

 margin of the wood. They were the first I had seen in Patagonia, and 

 for a moment it was evident that I was the most startled individual of 

 the four. They made no effort to escape, as they might easily have done 

 by taking to the w'ood, but stood at a distance of not more than twenty 



