240 IRISH ELK. 



however, to have been most abundant in the British Isles, 

 and especially in Ireland. It has been found at Walton, in 

 Essex, and at Happisburgh, in strata which are considered to 

 belong to the Norwich Crag, and must originally, therefore, 

 have belonged to the tertiary fauna. It is reported to have 

 been frequently found in peat bogs, but Professor Owen, who 

 made numerous inquiries on the subject, believes that, in 

 reality, the bones generally occur in the lacustrine shell marl, 

 which underlies the peat or bog earth.* 



In the Niebelungen Lied of the twelfth century, a mys- 

 terious animal is mentioned under the name of schelch : 



After this he straightway slew a bison and an elk, 

 Of the strong uri four, and one fierce schelch. 



It has been supposed by some writers that the schelch was, 

 in fact, the Megaceros hibernicus. There is, however, no suf- 

 ficient reason for this hypothesis, and we must remember that 

 the same poem, as Dr. Buckland well pointed out, contains 

 allusions to giants, dwarfs, pigmies, and fire- dragons. Neither 

 Caesar nor Tacitus mention the Irish elk, and they would 

 surely not have omitted such a remarkable animal, if it had 

 existed in their time. Moreover, though there is no longer 

 any doubt that this species coexisted with man, the evidence 

 of this has been obtained from the bone- caves, and from 

 strata belonging to the age of the river-drift gravels. 



No remains of the Irish elk have yet been found in asso- 

 ciation with bronze, nor indeed are we aware of any which 

 can be referred to the later, or Neolithic age. 



The reindeer still exists in Northern Europe, in Siberia, 

 and in the mountainous districts of the Caucasus. Even so 

 recently as the time of Pallas it might still be met with on 

 the wooded summits of the Oural Mountains. A very 

 nearly-allied species, even if indeed it be distinct, is widely 



* Owen, I.e. p. 465. 



