34 
OR HART. 
THE STAG 
larger than the Stag, and is of a grey color, while the 
color of the Stag is red ; the moose carries his head low, 
and looks dull and stupid, while the Stag holds his head 
high, and looks as though he was ready to spring away 
if you spoke to him. The form of the Stag is much 
more light and beautiful than that of the moose. The 
horns of the Stag are branched, each branch being sep¬ 
arate from the other; but the horns of the moose are 
palmated, or hand shaped, each branch being connected 
to the other, by a thin, flat piece of horn. 
HUNTING THE STAG. 
Many years ago, kings and princes were very fond of 
hunting the Stag ; and even at the present day some 
people take great delight in seeingthe poor animal chased 
by dogs. 
The Stag is hunted by large dogs with long ears, called 
Stag-hounds. These hounds are strong and fierce, but 
not very swift on the foot. Their scent is so good that 
they can follow the Stag, by the smell he leaves on the 
ground with his feet, so that the Stag cannot hide him- ) 
self from them, for they follow, without seeing him. 
When a Stag is to be hunted, a number of men come ’ 
together in the morning, mounted on horses, and bring- | 
ing with them their dogs, and sometimes their guns. 
These are the hunters, and they go to some place in the 
woods with their hounds, where they think a Stag has 
slept on the leaves, the night before. The Stag, if there, 
hears his enemies before they come near him, and in¬ 
stantly bounds away with the swiftness of the wind, jj 
leaving the hunters and their dogs far behind him. But 
the moment the Stag is up, and begins to run, the hounds > 
smell him and begin their cry. The hunters at the same ; 
time cheer the dogs, and encourage them to pursue. 5 
The Stag having run to the thickest woods, hides himself 
there, and not hearing the dogs, thinks he is safe, and 
goes to feeding as usual. But his peace does not last 
long,for the dogs follow him from hill to hill, and from 
wood to wood, until he hears their dreadful cry. He \ 
then bounds swiftly off again, and once more leaves his 
enemies far behind, and once more seeks a place of > 
refuge. But he soon finds that his cruel enemies are \ 
still in pursuit of him, and being by this time tired and 
weakened by running so far, the poor animal begins to 
make use of all his little arts to escape. He finds 
another Stag and runs for a time with him, or in his ; 
track, so that when the dogs come to this place, they ; 
may follow the other Stag, instead of himself. Having 
done this, he jumps away and lies close, hoping that the 
dogs will run by him. Sometimes, when he finds that !> 
the dogs are coming still nearer him, he will rush from ) 
one thicket into another, starting up the Stags and I 
( driving them before him in a most furious manner, so 
\ that the dogs by smelling many tracks, may not know 
{ which to take. 
\ The deer seem to know his intention, of putting off 
’ one of them for himself, and therefore, although an old 
j’ acquaintance, avoid him with the greatest care. When 
i they see the hunted Stag coming, they spring away from 
! him into the woods with as much apparent fear, as 
i though the dogs themselves had appeared among them; 
thus shunning one of their own kind, because he hap- 
) pened to fall into misfortune, conduct for which we can 
1 hardly blame a brute, because we often see men doing 
the same. But the nice smell, and the wonderful saga¬ 
city of the dogs, are more than a match for all the arts 
of the Stag. They know the track of him they are 
after, and can tell it, by the smell, from all others, so 
that they follow him straight along, just as though there 
had been no other Stags in the woods. As the poor ani¬ 
mal grows faint and weak, and is not able to keep far 
ahead of the hounds, their cry grows louder and more 
fierce, because the scent is stronger, the nearer they get 
to him. The Stag, finding that his dreadful enemies 
gain upon him, in spite of all his arts, shows by his looks, 
the agony of his feelings. His tongue, which hangs out 
of his mouth, is black and dry, and tears, it is said, are 
seen to stream from his eyes. But his pursuers neither 
feel, nor show him any mercy. On the contrary, the 
shouts of the hunters, and the cry of the dogs grow louder, 
in proportion to the agony of their victim. As a last 
refuge, having tried every other, the panting animal 
takes the water, and tries to escape by crossing a lake or 
river. While swimming, he keeps himself so deep in 
the water as only to show his nose, thus hiding himself 
as much as possible from his pursuers, and when he goes 
out on the other side, he takes care not to touch any 
weeds, or grass, as a scent to the hounds. In this way 
he sometimes so puzzles his pursuers, that, night coming 
on, the dogs are called away, and he escapes. But it 
more often happens that neither his cunning, nor his 
swiftness can save him from the slow, but steady and 
certain approach of the hounds. When the poor crea¬ 
ture finds that his strength is nearly gone, and that the 
fierce cry of his merciless pursuers shows his death is 
near, he does not even then give up without another 
trial, although it is a hopeless one. He never allows 
the dogs to come up with him while he is running from 
them, but when he sees that he can no longer escape, he 
then turns boldly around, faces his enemies and spends 
the remainder of his strength in defending himself with 
his horns, and fore feet. He now becomes desperate, 
and attacks with fury both men and dogs, if they come 
within his reach, and it often happens that he takes ven¬ 
geance on some of his enemies, before he dies. The 
