THE DEER OF ASIA 
FRICA must always remain the happy hunting ground of the 
man who wishes to obtain the maximum number of 
1 heads in the minimum amount of time. The true big 
game hunter, however, to whom time is of no account, 
may find in Asia the finest sport and the most mag- 
-A Mfe- nificent trophies which any continent can offer. Not only 
do the largest and handsomest of the wild sheep and goats come from the 
mountain ranges which tempt the adventurous traveller from afar, but 
the various species of deer present a study at once fascinating and per- 
plexing. Fascinating because few game animals bequeath to the hunter 
a more imposing and graceful legacy; perplexing owing to the confusion 
which has for so long prevailed with regard to the distribution and classi- 
fication of the various species. “ Different systematic names are con- 
stantly employed to designate the same animal, while different animals 
have more than once been designated by the same scientific name.” In 
addition to such errors, which frequently occur in the notes and records 
of travellers and scientists, the works of Russian naturalists, who have 
had peculiar facilities for studying this branch of zoology, are sealed 
to all save the expert Russian scholar. Compared, too, with other 
countries, books dealing with the large game of Central Asia are 
lamentably scarce. 
No one is more aware than I of the pitfalls and difficulties which lie 
before me in an attempt to make clear to sportsmen the various species 
and the distribution of Asiatic deer. I can only crave their indulgence for 
unintentional errors. Impossible as it is when dealing with this subject 
to avoid technicalities, I have endeavoured to keep clear of them as much 
as possible. It is difficult to define exactly the position of various races 
whose range at certain points may coincide, and until much more is 
known about their characteristics and distribution their names in many 
cases can only be looked on as provisional. Russian scientists, who have 
much data at their disposal, might elucidate points which at present 
remain doubtful. The revision of the numerous scientific names of species 
of Asiatic deer, begun by Mr Sclater, continued by Sir Victor Brooke and 
carried on more recently by Mr Lydekker, has reduced the number con- 
siderably. By a study of the specimens in the Paris Museum, M. Eugene de 
Pousargues elucidated several points which had been left obscure and still 
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