NATURAL HISTORY. 
38 
wlien they carefully conceal their young in 
the moft fecret thickets. This precaution is 
wifely clidtated to them, from their being 
cxpofed to fo many formidable enemies, fuch 
as the wolf, dog, eagle, falcon, ofprey, 
and all animals of the cat kind. But the 
flag himfelf is the greateft enemy to the 
young of his fpecies ; infomuch, that the 
hind, which is the female of the flag, ac- 
companies the faun during the fummcr, to 
preferve it from his depredations. Amongft 
all the enemies of this creature, Man feems 
to be the greateft ; for in every age, and e- 
very country, the human fpecies have taken 
delight in the chafe of it. Thofe who firft 
hunted it from necelTity, continued it after- 
wards both for health and amufement. Or;-; 
ginally, the beafts of chafe were the foie pof- 
feflbrs of Great-Britain ; they knew no other 
conftraint than the limits of the ocean, nor 
acknowledged any particular mafter. But, 
when the Saxons eftablifhed the heptarchy, 
they were referved by each fovereign for 
his own particular diverfion. In thofe unci- 
vilized ages, hunting and war were the only 
employments of the great ; for their aftive 
and uncultivated minds felt no pleafure but 
in rapine or violence. 
The other fpecies of this kind are, the ful- 
lo, ^'irginian, porcine, roebuck, Mexican, 
and grey deer. 
Stags arc ftill found wild in the highlands 
of Scotland, but their fize is fmaller than 
thofe 
