THE MALAYAN RUSA-DEER. 187 
same palmy honours with the male; but they do not in 
her reach the same enormous extent. 
' The high degree of domestication to which this latter 
species has been brought, and the invaluable services 
which it renders to the Laplander, added to the tranquil 
content which most of the deer manifest in a state of 
captivity, afford sufficient proofs that there is nothing in 
the constitution of the group repugnant to their being 
tamed and familiarized with man; but from none of the 
other races have any real or essential advantages been as 
yet derived. The quiet confidence, mixed with a certain 
air of cautious timidity, which they exhibit in their half- 
restricted state, in the park or the chase, where they are 
kept more for ornament than use, is perfectly indicative 
of their general character. But the very mildness of 
their disposition has been turned to their disadvantage, 
and one of the gentlest of animals, because endowed 
by nature with a high degree of fleetness, with some 
sagacity, and with a certain share of timidity, has been 
marked out by man as the chosen victim of his cruelty, 
disguised under the captivating name of sport. 
The Samboo Deer, as the present species is called by 
his keepers, belongs to the Rusa group, which are distin- 
guished from the rest of the genus by their horns being 
provided with a single antler at the base, and with a 
lateral snag which forms a kind of bifurcation towards 
the extremity. They are usually of large stature and 
nearly uniform colours, and are, for the most part, fur- 
nished with a rough and shaggy mane, a broad and 
expanded muzzle, and sub-orbital openings of consider- 
able size. The handsome Stag now before us is dark 
cinereous brown above, nearly black on the throat and 
