30 ZOOLOGY OF THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE. 



wards and upwards, and is situated at three and a quarter inches from the apex of 

 the beam. The total length of the beam is eight inches, measured in a straight 

 line. 



The third pair of horns, (fig. 3.) which must have belonged to an animal con- 

 siderably older than either of the preceding pairs, exhibits a large brow antler, in 

 length exceeding half that of the beam : here the posterior snag is also large, 

 and is directed backwards and upwards, whilst the apical portion of the beam is 

 directed forward about as much as the snag is directed backwards. The total 

 length of this horn is eleven and a half inches, measured in a straight line. 



The last figure (No. 4.) represents the horn of one of the specimens of which 

 an entire skin was brought over. This horn differs only from the last in being 

 slightly larger, and in having two additional small snags, one springing from the 

 under side, and near the apex, of the brow antler, and the other springing from 

 the hinder part, and near the apex of the great posterior snag. 



" The Spaniards say they can distinguish how old a deer is by the number 

 of the branches on the horns. They affirmed that the specimen, of which figure 4 

 represents one of the horns, was nine years old. It certainly was a very old one, 

 as all its teeth were decayed. This specimen was killed at Maldonado, in the 

 middle of June ; another specimen was killed at Bahia Blanca, (about three hun- 

 dred and sixty miles southward,) in the month of October, with the hairy skin on 

 the horns : there were others, however, whose horns were free from skin. At this 

 time of the year, many of the does had just kidded. I was informed, by the 

 Spaniards, that this deer sheds its horns every year. 



" The Cervus campestris is exceedingly abundant throughout the countries 

 bordering the Plata. It is found in Northern Patagonia as far south as the Rio 

 Negro, (Lat. 41°); but, further southward, none were seen by the officers em- 

 ployed in surveying the coast. It appears to prefer a hilly country; I saw very 

 many small herds, containing from five to seven animals each, near the Sierra 

 Ventana, and among the hills north of Maldonado. If a person, crawling close 

 along the ground, slowly advances towards a herd, the deer frequently approach, 

 out of curiosity, to reconnoitre him. I have by this means killed, from one 

 spot, three out of the same herd. Although thus so tame and inquisitive, yet/ 

 when approached on horseback, they are exceedingly wary. In this country 

 nobody goes on foot, and the deer knows man as its enemy, only when he is 

 mounted, and armed with the bolas. At Bahia Blanca, a recent establishment 

 in Northern Patagonia, I was surprised to find how little the deer cared for 

 the noise of a gun : one day, I fired ten times, from within eighty yards, at one 

 animal, and it was much more startled at the ball cutting up the ground, than at 



the report. 



" The most curious fact, with respect to this animal, is the overpoweringly 



