78 CLASS MAMMALIA. 



and to flounder in it ; but that they must be on their guard, 

 and run instantly upon the deep snow, to fire at him as he 

 turns, because he will endeavour to double on his own 

 track, and charge all that are then in his way. When first 

 discovered, he is often found sitting on his hams like a dog, 

 voiding his urine before he rises to escape. Against the 

 Bear and the Wolf he stands at bay with his horns, acting 

 offensively only with his fore or hind feet ; his kick is very 

 powerful and quick: it is said that a small tree is splintered 

 by it. 



The Indians are great admirers of the flesh : to us it ap- 

 peared superior to the Stags ; but under the circumstances 

 which admit of this kind of banquet, it may be doubted 

 whether a similar judgment would be passed in the comforts 

 of a home : the nose and the tongue are admitted to be the 

 best parts. Mr. Pennant states that they were once used 

 to draw sledges in Sweden, but that it afforded to malefac- 

 tors the facility of escaping, and that, therefore, the use of 

 them was prohibited. The hide furnishes excellent leather 

 and buff skin for belts. It is probable that the ancients 

 knew the Elk under the name of Alee, only by description, 

 and when Pliny compares it to a mule, he may have had 

 the female in view. Caesar certainly speaks of the Alee 

 from hearsay, The Machlis may have been another animal, 

 perhaps the Schelch of the ancient Germans*. 



The Crowned Elk, (Cervus Coronatus, Cuv.) This spe- 

 cies is known only by a pair of horns attached to a part of 

 the frontal, in the Museum of Paris, without indication 

 from whence they were brought. The animal to which they 

 belonged was evidently an adult, since they bear fourteen 



* Much information on the animals of North America may be 

 obtained by consulting the voyageurs who reside at Sorel or Wil- 

 liam Henry, at the mouth of the Richelieu, in Lower Canada. 

 Several of these people have traversed immense tracts of the 

 interior. 



