VIRGINIAN DEER. 
227 
yards. We have never heard the voice of the female beyond a mere 
murmur when calling her young, except when shot, when she often bleats 
loudly like a calf in pain. The buck when suddenly started sometimes 
utters a snort, and we have at night heard him emitting a shrill whistling 
sound, not unlike that of the chamois of the Alps, that could be 
heard at the distance of half a mile. The keen sense of smell the 
Deer possess enables them to follow each other’s tracks. We have ob- 
served them smelling on the ground and thus follow! iig each other’s 
trail for miles. We were on an autumnal’ morning seated on a log 
in the pine lands of Carolina when a doe came running past us. In the 
course of ten minutes we observed a buck in pursuit, with his nose near 
the ground, following in all the windings of her course. Half an hour 
afterwards came a second buck, and during another interval a third small 
buck pursued the same trail. The sense of sight appears imperfect — as 
we have often, when standing still, perceived the Deer passing within a 
few yards wdthout observing us, but w'e have often noticed the affrighted 
start when we moved our position or when they scented us by the wind. 
On one occasion we had tied our horse for some time at a stand on his 
becoming restless we removed him to a distance — a Deer pursued by 
dogs ran near the spot where the horse had originally stood, caught the 
scent, started suddenly back, and passed within a few feet of the spot 
where we were standing, without having observed us. Their sense of 
hearing is as keen as that of smell. In crawling towards them in an open 
wood, against the wind, you may approach within gun shot, but if jmu 
unfortunately break a stick, or create a rustling among the leaves, they 
start away in an instant. 
This animal cannot exist without water, being obliged nightly to visit 
some stream or spring for the purpose of drinking. During the present 
year (1850) a general drought prevailed throughout our southern country. 
On the Hunting Islands between Beaufort and Savannah, the Deer, we 
were informed, nearly all perished in consequence of the streams on 
these Islands having dried up. Deer are fond of salt, and like many 
other wild animals resort instinctively to salt-licks or saline springs. 
The hunters, aware of this habit, watch at these “ licks,” as they are 
called, and destroy vast numbers of them. Wv have visited some of these 
pools, and seen the Deer resorting to them in the mornings and evenings 
and by moon light. They did not appear to visit them for the mere purpose 
of drinking, but after walking around the sides, commenced licking the 
stones and the earth on the edges, preferring in this manner to obtain this 
agreeable condiment, to taking a sudden draught and then retiring. On 
the contrary the}' lingered for half an hour around the spring, and after 
