THE WAPITI. 
159 
tlieir way, they will lift and toss it clear over tlieir 
backs. 
They feed on tender branches and slioots of the 
firs, as well as on the various ground herbage, and 
daring the summer, when tormented by the flies, 
have a singular manner of gaining their sustenance, 
and at the same time defending themselves from 
their attacks. They, at this season, feed on aquatic 
plants, and entirely immerse themselves in the lakes 
and rivers, browsing completely under water, and 
only raising their heads above it to breathe. At this 
time they are often so intent on their food, or cai-e- 
less of what surrounds them, that the hunters glide 
gently with the stream in a canoe, and often gain 
within shot. 
Mr Smith introduces in this place another animal 
to which he has provisionally given the name of C. 
occidentalis or North Western Stag. He thinks it 
frequents the utmost western limits of North Ame- 
rica beyond the Rocky Mountains ; and in appearance 
and colouring is very closely allied to the Wapiti. 
The antlers, however, differ much ; and besides the 
limited materials which he found in America, he 
discovered two pairs of horns in the British Museum, 
which corresponded exactly with his sketches, and 
presented the character which he considers belong- 
ing to this species, in having the bezantler the longest 
of the three in each beam. 
The annexed wood-cut will explain this, and be 
