THE WAPITI. 
137 
With the Canadian Stag of some authors, it has 
been confused, sometimes identified, and sometimes 
made distinct, hut the researches of Baron Cuvier 
and of Hamilton Smith have proved to their own 
satisfaction that they are identical ; and in our pre- 
sent state of knowledge, we can only use those au- 
thorities which have most studied the subject, and 
who have had the greatest opportunities of observa- 
tion. Major Smith considers them as varieties re- 
sulting from circumstances, the Canadian animal 
livino- in deep forests and rocky mountains, the Wa- 
piti on the savannahs of the interior. It was also 
confused with the European Stag, but either variety 
is much larger. 
A specimen in the Parisian Menagerie in peitect 
health, and about four years old, bore the following 
dimensions and colours at the commencement of 
autumn. The height at the shoulders is four feet 
and a half. The upper parts and lower jaw are of 
a pretty lively yellowish-hrown, and a black mark 
extends from the angle of. the mouth along the side 
of the lower jaw; around the eyes a circle of brown. 
The neck is of a deeper tint than the sides of the 
body ; it is mixed with reddish, and has coarse 
black hairs depending from it in the form of a devv- 
!ap. The hips are a clear French grey ; the tad is 
yellowish, and scarcely two inches and a half long. 
The hair is of mean length on the shoulders, back, 
flanks, thighs, and under part of the head ; the sides 
and limbs are clothed with shorter hairs, but they 
