THE GREAT PARK OF THE EASTERN TOMBS 265 



sika had assumed their svimmer dress and antlers. But 

 at the Tvmg Ling, spring had not yet arrived, and the 

 animals were late in losing their winter hair. 



In summer the sika is the most beautiful of all deer. 

 Its bright red body, spotted with white, is, when seen 

 among the green leaves of the forest, one of the loveliest 

 things in nature. We wished to obtain a group of these 

 splendid animals for the new Hall of Asiatic Life in 

 the American Museum of Natural History, but the 

 specimens had to be in perfect summer dress. 



My hunter was disgusted beyond expression when I 

 refused to shoot the deer. The antlers of the sika when 

 in the velvet are of greater value to the natives than 

 those of any other species. A good pair of horns in full 

 velvet sometimes sells for as much as $450. The grow- 

 ing antlers are called shueh-chiao (blood horns) by the 

 Chinese, who consider them of the highest efficacy as a 

 remedy for certain diseases. Therefore, the animals are 

 persecuted relentlessly and very few remain even in the 

 Timg Ling. 



The antlers of the wapiti are also of great value to 

 the native druggists, but strangely enough they care 

 little for those of the moose and the roebuck. Hundreds 

 of thousand of deerhorns are sent from the interior prov- 

 inces of China to be sold in the large cities, and the com- 

 plete extermination of certain species is only a matter 

 of a few decades. Moreover, the female elk, just before 

 the calving season, receive unmerciful persecution, for 

 it is believed that the unborn fawns have great medicinal 

 properties. 



