THE NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE, ; 69 
deer ;. but in general, foreign animals fall seldom in my way ; 
my little intelligence is confined to the narrow sphere of my 
own observations at home. 
LETTER XXVIII. 
SELBORNE, March, 1770. 
On Michaelmas-day, 1768, I managed to get a sight of the 
female moose belonging to the Duke of Richmond, at Good- 
wood; but was greatly disappointed, when I arrived at the 
spot, to find that it died, after having appeared in a languish- 
ing way for some time on the morning before. However, 
understanding that it was not stripped, I proceeded to examine 
‘this rare quadruped ; I found it in an old greenhouse, slung 
under the belly and chin by ropes, and in a standing posture. 
The grand distinction between this deer and any other species 
that I have ever met with, consisted in the strange length of 
its legs; on which it was tilted up much in the manner of the 
birds of the gra//e order. I measured it, as they do a horse, 
and found that, from the ground to the withers it was just 
five feet four inches; which height answers exactly to sixteen 
hands, a growth that few horses arrive at: but then, with this 
length of legs, its neck was remarkably short, no more than 
twelve inches; so that, by straddling with one foot forward 
and the other backward, it grazed on the plain ground, with 
the greatest difficulty, between its legs; the ears were vast and 
lopping, and as long as the neck; the head was about twenty 
inches long, and ass-like ; and had such a redundancy of upper 
lip as I never saw before, with huge nostrils. This lip, travel- 
lers say, is esteemed a dainty dish in North America. It is 
_ very reasonable to suppose that this creature supports itself 
chiefly by browsing off trees, and by wading after water plants ; 
