RED DEER. 
71 
except the writer himself has ntlem] teci to depict the life of the staj; upon the 
face of the mist-wrapped hills of the Knglish Lake District.” The life-habits, 
breedinp, and devtlo(ment of antlers of deer are all treated of, and the reader 
is introduced, in an inteiestin}; descrii ticn, to the piciuresc|ue region referred to. 
A good deal of antiquarian lore anent customs and services relating to deer, and 
famous hunts and hunters, as well as gossip gleaned from old people who could 
recall the ways and doings of “ t’auld Squire Ilasell,” n akes this pe.rtion of the 
volume pleasant reading. In the chapter entitled Echoes of the Chase, the 
ancient ways of hunting and taking deer ate described, as well as the curious plan 
of cooking venison by baking it in jiits lined with heated stones ; and there is a 
good deal about deer stealing and poaching, for the “good Scotch folk seem to 
have always had a hankering after English venison.” 
The author of “ Deer Stalking ” holds that this is the “ king of w ild sports,” but 
though no one can fail to glean something of the natural history of the red deer 
by reading the chapters on Deer Forest, and Stalking, it is hardly the province of 
Nature Notes to deal fully with this portion of the volume. The red deer has, 
it seems, so strong a smell that, especially at the end of the season, their presence 
can be detected by the unaided and limited sense of smell possessed by the owner 
of the dog. ^Ve have ourselves, when riding after a small species of deer 
{Cariacus campestris) in the open “campo” of Uruguay, smelt these beasts at a 
considerable distance. Though there are seldom any trees in a deer forest, the 
use of the name confirms the opinion that vast regions of the Highlands were 
formerly covered with indigenous forests. The author traces the conditions of 
the country through the early days of royal forests and forest laws, to the more 
modern times of cattle raising, when, and until the introduction of sheep farming 
on a large scale at the end of the last and beginning of the present century, the 
whole of the northern part of Scotland might almost have been described as one 
vast deer forest. The chapter on Social and Economical Aspects is a valuable 
contribution. Herein are discussed the attacks made on deer forests, the judg- 
ment on them by royal commissions and parliamentary committees (all these 
reprorted unanimously in their favour), and the possibilities of redressing and 
grievances that may exist. 
“ Stag Hunting” treats of the chase of the wild red deer in days of yore ; in 
France, where it appears to be conducted on the same principles in the nineteenth 
as it was in the fourteenth century ; and in Devon and Somerset, which does not 
seem to have ever (as far as west country' records go) had much in common with 
that previously treated of. The subsequent chapters deal of the Modern Chase, 
Horses and Hounds and Deer, and this part concludes with useful notes for visitors. 
There is a good deal of natural history to be found in these chapters. If the 
“fraying” (or marks of rubbing by horns) is against a big tree, it is a certain 
sign of a big stag. If the bark of a tree or the ivy growing on it is gnawed up 
and down, it is the work of a hind, but if the bites are across the trunk they are 
a stag’s. According to a harbourer of five and twenty years’ experience, the 
common theory’ that a stag takes but one bite out of a turnip before he throws it 
over his head, while the hind takes several, cannot be depended on ; but the 
passion of stags for the young ash-shoots on a newly-made fence is well marked. 
As to the “slot,” the main difference between the sexes is that the slot or foot- 
print of a stag is rounder and wider at the heel and has blunt toes, while a hind 
has pointed toes and a long slot with narrow heels. These are a few examples of 
the careful and minute observations to be found in this valuable and delightful 
history of the red deer in the west country. A moderate estimate gives the 
number of deer in Devon and Somerset at the present day as four hundred in 
round figures. As the very existence of the wild red deer in the west depends 
almost entirely upon the continuance of the chase, it is satisfactory to read that 
this has a very strong hold on the people of the country round Exmoor, and that 
all classes take a keen interest in the hunting. 
Mr. Shand’s contribution is not merely by way of being a recipe book ; but in 
a most able and charming essay he traces the influence of venison in the history 
of the world, and on its literature and art. Venison has played an important part 
in the story of the human race, and the author points out that had Esau come 
home half an hour sooner with his haunch of venison, the destinies of a great part 
of the world would have been altered ! It is consoling to be told that a modest 
