TRADITIONAL LONGEVITY, 39 



dog that approaches him rashly. His instinct always leads 

 him to the rivers, where his long legs give him a great 

 advantage over the deer-hounds. Firmly he holds his 

 position, whilst they swim powerless about him ; and would 

 die from cold and fatigue before they could make the least 

 impression on him. Sometimes he will stand upon a rock 

 in the midst of the river, making a most majestic appear- 

 ance ; and in this case it will always be found that the spot 

 on which he stands is not approachable on his rear. In 

 this situation he takes such a sweep with his antlers that 

 he could exterminate a whole pack of the most powerful 

 lurchers, that were pressing too closely upon him in front. 

 He is secure from all but man ; and the rifle-shot must end 

 him. Superior dogs may pull him down when running, 

 but not when he stands at bay. 



It is worthy of remark, that when a cold hart (meaning 

 one that has not been wounded) takes the bay, and it is 

 broken afterwards by an unskilful approach, or by any 

 other means, the same dog or dogs which outran it at first 

 seldom succeed in bringing it to bay a second time. The 

 dogs exhaust themselves with their clamour and exertions, 

 whilst the hart is in a comparative state of rest, and 

 recovers his wind. 



There is an opinion amongst many, founded upon tradi- 

 tion, that the deer attains to a very extraordinary old age, 

 amounting to some hundreds of years: " Longa et cervina 

 senectus" saith Juvenal. But the ground and authority of 

 this conceit, according to Sir Thomas Browne, " was first 

 hieroglyphical, the Egyptians expressing longevity by this 

 animal ; but they often erected such emblems upon uncer- 

 tainties, and convincible falsities ; for Aristotle, first, and 

 Pliny long after, declared, that the Egyptians could make 

 but weak observations on this matter ; for although it was 

 said that ^Eneas feasted his followers with venison, yet 

 Aristotle affirms that neither deer or boar were to be found 

 in Africa: and how far they misconstrued the lives and 

 duration of animals is evident, from their conceit of the 

 crow, which they presume to live for five hundred years; 

 and the lives of hawks, which, according to ./Elian, the 

 Egyptians reckoned at no less than seven hundred." 



