HISTORY OF QUADRUPEDS. 109 



of the curious, fome of which are of a mod enormous 

 fize, there is every reafon to conclude, that the animal 

 which bore them muft have been of a proportionable 

 bulk and ftrength. 



Thofe who fpeak of the gigantic Moofe, fay, their 

 horns are fix feet long, and meafure, from tip to tip, 

 above ten feet : The beams of the horns are fhort ; from 

 which they fpread out into large and broad palms, one 

 fide of which is plain, but on the outfide are feveral 

 fliarp fnags or fhoots. 



The European Elk grows to the height of feven or 

 eight feet; and in length, from the end of the muzzle 

 to the infertion of the tail, meafures ten feet : The head 

 is two feet long ; the neck, on which is a fhort, upright 

 mane, of a light-brown colour, is much (horter : Its eye 

 is fmall ; and, from the lower corner of it, there is a 

 deep flit, common to all the Deer kind, as well as mod 

 of the Gazelles : The ears are upwards of a foot in 

 length, very broad, and fomewhat flouching ; the nof- 

 trils are wide and the upper lip, which is fquare, and 

 has a deep furrow in the middle, hangs greatly over the 

 lower, from whence it was imagined by the ancients, 

 that this creature could not graze without going back- 

 ward : The withers are very high, the hind legs much 

 fhorter than the fore legs, and the hoofs deeply cloven : 

 From a fmall excrefcence under the throat, hangs a long 

 tuft of coarfe black hair : The tail is very (hort, dufky 

 above, and white beneath : The hair is long and rough, 

 like a Bear, and of a hoary-brown colour, not much dif- 

 ferent from that of the Afs. 



The pace of the Elk is a high, fhambling trot ; but it 

 goes with great fwiftnefs. — Formerly thefe animals were 

 made ufe of in Sweden to draw fledges j but as they 



