1880.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
425 
The Columbian, Black-Tailed Deer. 
(Gervus Columbians.) 
The beautiful Black-Tailed Deer is quite gener¬ 
ally distributed oyer the western portion of the 
North American continent, inhabiting most of the 
hilly lands of California, and extending on the west 
of the Rocky Mountains nearly to Alaska. It was 
first noticed by Lewis and Clark (near the mouth of 
the Columbia River), while on their expedition to 
the superior prongs. The antlers bear some re¬ 
semblance to those of the Red Deer of Europe. 
The ears are narrower and the head less pointed 
than in the Common, or Virginia Deer. The 
tail is dark brown at its junction with the back, 
but the color deepens to a black towards the 
tip, giving this species of deer an easily distin¬ 
guished characteristic, and one from which it takes 
its common name. The gait of the Black-Tail is 
not so graceful as that of the Virginia, it having a 
bound more like the Roebuck of Europe. The 
Black-Tailed Deer is better known to the western 
miners than to any other class of white men, and 
to its nourishing flesh, many of the gold seekers 
owe their lives in times of scarcity of food. 
Audubon gives a vivid description of the difficul- 
the Deer, but in vain; at last they gain the next 
summit; the object of their chase is at hand; sud¬ 
denly they see him—a fine buck; he is yet on the 
declivity of the hill, and they cautiously observe 
his motions. Now they see some broken ground 
and rocky fragments scattered towards the left; 
they redouble their caution; locks are ready 
cocked; and breathing rapidly, they gain the de¬ 
sired spot. One instant—-the deadly rifle has sent 
its leaden messenger and the buck lies struggling 
in his gore. Short work is made of the return to 
camp if no more deer signs are about; and a 
straight cut may bring the hunters home in less 
than an hour, even should they have been two or 
three in following their prize.” The writer was 
once, for several months, at a house on the Rio 
Grande, not far from El Paso, at which there was a 
tame Black-Tail. The house was built in the Mex¬ 
ican style, in a square form, with a court in the 
center, and the deer had the freedom of this yard. 
The animal having no horns, the dogs apparently 
thought it to be defenceless, and would attack to 
worry, if not to bite the deer. When the right mo¬ 
ment came, the deer would stand upon its hind 
legs, nearly erect, and with its forefeet close to¬ 
gether, strike with its sharp hoofs a tremendous 
Dogs—The St. Bernard and. “Cocker.” 
Dogs are so easily taught and are capable of such 
noble traits of character that we cannot but look 
upon them, as a class, with respect, however much 
we may despise some particular cur. There is no 
more faithful, keen-sighted, sagacious, thoughtful 
and courageous friend in the whole brute creation 
than a well-trained and intelligent dog. From the 
earliest time he has been, and will continue to be, 
the close compan¬ 
ion of man. There 
are dogs for a hun¬ 
dred special pur¬ 
poses ; they having 
been bred for cen¬ 
turies to some par¬ 
ticular end ; some 
to hunt birds, 
others to chase the 
fox ; some for short 
legs and long hair, 
others for length of 
limb and shortness 
of hair, etc., etc. 
Out of this long 
list of breeds, and 
cross breeds, it is 
difficult, in fact, 
impossible, to se¬ 
lect the one best 
fitted for the farm. 
It is so much a 
matter of taste or 
fancy that each one 
must,and generally 
will, select his own 
dog. There are cer¬ 
tain points, how¬ 
ever, that a farm¬ 
er’s dog should 
possess in order that he may be a profitable ad¬ 
junct of the farm. He should be a faithful watcher 
of persons and property, and at the same time not 
savage to strangers within the gates—he should be 
safe as well as a means of safety. He should be 
at home and at peace with the live stock, being 
able to handle them with gentleness, and above 
all easy to learn, and obedient to his master. 
This may be asking a good deal of a dog ; but there 
are those which meet the requirements and they 
are the dogs that it pays to have on the farm. 
The Mount St. Bernard Dog (fig. 1), is closely 
related to the Mastiff, but in temper and dis¬ 
position more like the Newfoundland dog. Until 
recently this dog has been confined to the Alps and 
neighboring countries, where he has long been of 
the Northwest, but 
it was not until the 
discovery of gold 
in California that 
this Deer became 
generally known to 
white men. The 
Black-Tailed Deer 
is a trifle larger, 
and of a stouter 
build, than the Vir¬ 
ginia Deer, measur¬ 
ing six feet from 
tip of the nose to 
the end of the tail, 
with a bight at the 
shoulder of two 
feet and six inches. 
As shown in the en¬ 
graving, this Deer 
has a tuft of long, 
pendulous hairs 
hanging from the 
umbilicus back¬ 
wards between the 
hind legs. The 
horns are cylindri¬ 
cal, and twice fork¬ 
ed, and have a 
spread of nearly 
two feet between 
the black-tailed or Columbian DEER ( Cervus Columbianus). 
Fig. 1 . — THE SMOOTH MOUNT ST. BERNARD DOG 
ties in the way of hunting successfully this ex¬ 
tremely cautious Deer: “ Above all things, keep 
the wind in such a direction as not to carry the 
scent to the animals.” We give a portion of the 
description : “'Once the trail has been almost lost 
in the stony broken ground they pass, but again 
they have it. Now they approach and search in 
different directions the most likely places to find 
, “monarque.” Fig. 
blow. If the dog was able to get away, which 
was not always the case, he was never known to 
repeat the attack. There is a difference of opinion 
as to the flesh of the Black-Tailed Deer, some re¬ 
garding it as dry and less palatable than ordinary 
venison. The writer has frequently eaten it, but at 
times when any fresh meat-was a luxury; under 
those circumstances it is difficult to form an opinion. 
THE COCKER SPANIEL, “BRUSH.” 
great service in recovering persons lost in the 
snow-storms of that region. The actions of these 
dogs over a snow-bound traveller are said to be al¬ 
most human, so great are the intelligence and 
sympathy which they exhibit. There are two quite 
distinct varieties of the St. Bernard dog, differing 
principally in the length of the hair, and known as 
the Rough and Smooth St. Bernard. The best 
