1868.] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 289 



is not common in Bengal, and therefore not likely to be familiar to a 

 Pandita. 



" Of deer, most names, which were originally specific, have since 

 become generic, and it is difficult now to identify them. In the 

 Kalika Purana, quoted by Raja Radhakanta, nine different animals 

 are described to be feral deer (jangala). Of these the first, Harina, is 

 said to be " copper-coloured ;" 2nd, the Ena " black ;" 3rd, the Karanga 

 " light copper-coloured, and of the shape of, and as big as, the harina ;" 

 4th, the Rishya, u an animal with a blue scrotum, generally known 

 by the name of Saroru ;" 5th, the Prisliata, " white spotted, and some- 

 what smaller than the Harina." 6th, the Nyauku, " an animal with 

 large antlers ;" 7th, the Sambara, " identical with the great Gavaya" 

 or wild-ox (sambarogavayo mahdn, which may be made to mean the 

 sambara is a large cow-like animal) ; 8th, the Rdjiva l{ a deer with 

 lines (or whirls of hair) all over its body ;" and 9th, the Mundi or 

 ' the hornless.' 



" The first I take to be the Cervus Wallichii or the Honglu of 

 Kashmir, an animal nearly allied to the Cervus elaphus or the Red 

 Deer of Europe, the Edelhirsch of Germany. The second is the 

 common antelope of Upper India {Antilope bezoariicd) with a black 

 body and white ventor and feet. Its colour leaves no doubt about its 

 identity ; for there is no other Indian deer or antelope that is black. 

 It is the only animal that can correspond with Professor Wilson's 

 " white-footed antilope." Its habitat, Upper India, was well known 

 to Maim, who describes the characteristic of the land sacred to the 

 Aryans as that where the black antelope grazes in a wild state. Its 

 common name is Krishnasdra. The third is our Bard Singd 

 (Rucervus Duvaucelii) which is of a lighter colour than the first. The 

 fifth is unmistakably the Axis of Bengal {Axis maculatus), com- 

 monly known by the name of Harina. The sixth I cannot make 

 out, unless it be the Sdngndi of Manipur {Panolia Eldi\ an animal 

 never seen in the plains now, but which may have had a wider 

 habitat in former times. The seventh is the well known Sdmber 

 deer, often miscalled the Indian Elk (Rusa Aristoielis) It is common 

 all over cis-Vindhyan India, and, for ought I know, may be equally so 

 in the peninsula. It yields the leather known by the name of Sahara, 

 which is highly esteemed as a very pure material for bedding, and 



