200 
STAG. 
size and his vigour. The stags of t lie plains, the 
valleys, and the little hills, which abound in corn 
and pasture, are much more corpulent and much 
taller than such as are bred on the rocky waste, or 
the heathy mountain. The latter are low, small, 
and meagre, incapable of going* so swift as the 
former, although they are found to hold out much 
longer. They are also more artful in evading the 
hunters ; their horns are generally black and short, 
while those of the lowland stags are reddish and 
flourishing; so that the animal seems to increase 
in beauty and stature in proportion to the goodness 
of the pasture, which he enjoys in security. 
Of all the animals that are natives of this climate, 
there are none that have such a beautiful eye as 
the stag ; it is sparkling, soft, and sensible. His 
senses of .smelling and hearing are in no less per- 
fection. When he is in the least alarmed, he lifts 
the head and erects the ears, standing for a few 
minutes as if in a listening posture. Whenever 
he ventures upon some unknown ground, or quits 
his native covering, he first stops at the skirt of the 
plain to examine all around ; he next turns against 
the wind to examine by the smell, if there be any 
enemy approaching. If a person should happen 
to whistle or call out, at a distance, the stag is seen 
to stop short in his slow measured pace, and gazes 
upon the stranger with a kind of aukward admira- 
tion ; it the cunning animal perceives neither dogs 
nor fire-arms preparing against him, he goes for- 
ward, quite unconcerned, amd slowly proceeds 
without offering to fly. Man is not the enemy he 
is most afraid of; on the contrary, he seems to be 
delighted with the sound of the shepherd’s pipe | 
and the hunters sometimes make use of that in- 
strument to allure the poor animal to his destruo 
tion. 
The stag eats slowly, and is very delicate in tn$ 
