270 LABRADOR 
perished in the brooks and thickets. We also lost two deer 
by dogs during the year, and found one doe shot with buck- 
shot, so that exactly one year after arrival, our two hundred 
and fifty numbered four hundred and five. Among these 
deer the fawns were so large by October, when the rutting 
season came on, that some, at least, were covered by the 
stags; but with what result we are yet unable to tell. 
All summer long the deer had chosen the high green- 
covered hills close to the sea, greatly enjoying and rapidly 
fattening on the salty food. They ate mostly the young 
grass and new green leaves, apparently making little dis- 
crimination, except that as they did not seem to use the 
moss on which they must rely in winter, one might have 
suggested (probably untruthfully) that they were specially 
saving that for consumption when nothing else would be 
. available. 
The magnificent antlers on the older stags proved a 
danger to others, and after one had been killed by a bad 
wound in the side, we dehorned the rest, with the exception 
of their brow antlers, which we considered sufficient to 
enable the deer to keep up their courage and spirit of play. 
After the fawns had run six full weeks with their mothers, 
that is, by the beginning of August, the herd was driven by 
the dogs every day into a large corral built for the purpose, 
and sixty does were milked each time. While suckling their 
fawns, we could not expect to get very much milk at best 
from each. They gave us, however, a pint of a very rich, 
creamy milk per head. This tasted more like cow’s milk 
than anything I know of, and had none of the flavour 
familiar to that of the goat. I have unfortunately no 
analysis of its component parts with me, but would judge it 
