ACAPULCO DEER. 115 
which was ill in his gardens, and died soon after I received her, 
and two Ceylon does. The first was of a much darker color than 
the one presented by Governor Latham, which survived, which 
has always been perfectly healthy. Of all the deer I ever had, 
she shows the greatest tendency to fatten. She remains in fine 
order when shedding the winter coat in the spring, when most of 
the other species of deer become very poor. She even suckles 
two hybrid fawns almost as big as herself, and still remains in 
fine order. I never procured a male of this species till 1876, 
three years after she was turned into my grounds. He was a 
very small specimen, two years old. I do not think they noticed 
each other before September, when I occasionally saw them to- 
gether, or rather the buck seemed inclined to seek her society, but 
she showed herself quite a virago, and would dash after him as if 
she desired above all things to give him a good beating. This, 
however, she was much more inclined to do when I was around 
than when she did not see me. If this was a pretense of mod- 
esty on her part, it was the merest affectation, for, as I shall 
hereafter explain under the head of Hybridity, I fear she has be- 
come thoroughly debauched, by breeding to bucks of another spe- 
cies, and that she will still favor them instead of the male of her 
own species, which she seems so much inclined to punish. How- 
ever, I have lately seen him several times turn upon her, as if 
inclined to defend himself from her vicious attack, and I hope he 
will soon be able to tame the termagant. It is evident she will 
find him a very different subject to deal with from the great 
awkward Mule buck, which she tyrannizes over so wickedly. 
In 1878, at the same time that I procured the Acapulco doe, I 
procured a buck and two does of a size scarcely larger than the 
former, in form and color, and indeed in most characteristics re- 
sembling her very much. The buck was presented to me by Gov- 
ernor Latham, who informed me that he purchased it from the 
deck of a ship just arrived from the Island of Ceylon, whence, he 
was informed, the deer was brought, so that I can no longer doubt 
as to the place of its nativity. The does are undoubtedly from the 
same place. Their close similarity to the Acapulco deer will in- 
duce me to compare them when we discuss the different branches 
of our subject. For the present, I will only say that they are 
nearly the same in size, color, and form. Antlers about the same 
size, but differing in form. Both are very courageous, and com- 
bative with other deer. Both are robust, good feeders, and fat- 
ten easily, and bare giving suck remarkably well, though the 
