82 DEER-SHOOTING AND OTHER MATTERS. 



the north two hundred to two hundred and fifty 

 pounds weight is not uncommon. The antlers of those 

 in the north are finely formed, large, and well grown, 

 but in the southern parts are stunted, and often quite 

 imperfect. I have never seen any species of deer so 

 regular in their points : there are always four, except 

 where malformation has occurred in the early stages of 

 the horns' growth. The horns are shed in March or 

 beginning of April, and by the end of July they are 

 full-grown, and clean from velvet by the middle of 

 August. The rutting season is in September, and all 

 October, and many a fine stag then comes to grief by 

 the wily Japanese hunter, who, waiting concealed near 

 some stream or pond, imitates the call of the female so 

 accurately, by means of a small instrument made out 

 of the horn of the deer, and covered by the skin of the 

 same animal, that the stags, who are at that season 

 following the hinds, are easily attracted to within a 

 few yards, and then shot. These deer are very timid 

 and shy; but at night they often break through the 

 mud- wall, or other fence, which invariably surrounds the 

 cultivated ground, and do a lot of mischief in a very 

 short time, as much by trampling the standing corn or 

 rice as by eating it. In some of the more unfrequented 

 parts the natives feel very seriously the result of these 



