222 
' VIRGINIAN' BEER, 
as a great curiosity,) is the middle-sized axis of 
Pennant, an inhabitant of the dry hilly forests of 
Borneo, Java, Celebes, Ceylon, and probably Su- 
matra. Hundreds are often associated in one herd. 
They grow very fat, and are often pursued in Java 
and Celebes, by numerous hunting parties, who kill 
multitudes in one expedition. Their flesh, either 
salted or fresh, is excellent food. The tongue is a 
delicacy. The hides are articles of traffic. 
A pair of horns, similar in shape to those of the 
above varieties of the axis, but considerably larger 
and stronger, not less than two feet nine inches 
long, and two feet four inches from tip to tip, are 
to be seen in the British Museum. They are con- 
jectured to belong to a still larger variety of this 
same species ; a variety, which, as Mr. Pennant 
was informed by Mr. Loten, are of a reddish colour, 
as tall as a horse, and inhabit the low, marshy 
grounds in the islands of Ceylon and Borneo. 
Virginian deer. 
The Virginian deer are a distinct species, corn 
moo to all the provinces of North America, south 
of Canada, but more numerous in the more 
southern. 
The horns are slender, with numerous branches 
on the interior sides, and much bent forwards, but 
without brow antlers. They are nearly of the 
same size as the English fallow-deer, only some- 
times rather larger. Their general colour is a light 
cinereous brown, the head of a deeper cast, and the 
belly, sides, shoulders, and thighs, brown mottled 
with white ; the length of the tail ten inches. 
They are numerous on the extensive plains lying 
along the Missisippi and the rivers that run into 
it. They are very probably likewise natives of 
Guiana. Their rutting season is in September, 
