MALE AND FEMALE GIRAFFES.Photo by York & Son][Notting Hill.MALE AND FEMALE GIRAFFES.Giraffes are said to be very affectionate animals.
Photo by York & Son][Notting Hill.MALE AND FEMALE GIRAFFES.Giraffes are said to be very affectionate animals.
Photo by York & Son][Notting Hill.
MALE AND FEMALE GIRAFFES.
Giraffes are said to be very affectionate animals.
Soon after reaching the Uganda Protectorate at the end of 1899, I came in contact with a large party of dwarfs who had been kidnapped by a too enterprising German impresario, who had decided to show them at the Paris Exhibition. As the Belgians objected to this procedure, I released the dwarfs from their kidnapper, and retained them with me for some months in Uganda, until I was able personally to escort them back to their homes in the Congo Forest. I had other reasons connected with my Government business for visiting the north-western part of the Congo Free State. As soon as I could make the dwarfs understand me by means of an interpreter, I questioned them regarding the existence of this horse-like creature in their forests. They at once understood what I meant; and pointing to a zebra-skin and a live mule, they informed me that the creature in question, which was calledOkapi, was like a mule with zebra stripes on it. When I reached Fort Mbeni, in the Congo Free State, on the west bank of the river Semliki, I put questions to the Belgian officers stationed there. They all knew the okapi, at any rate, when dead. As a living animal they had none of them seen it, but their native soldiers were in the habit of hunting the animal in the forest and killing it with spears, and then bringing in the skin and the flesh for use in the fort. One of the officers declared there was even then a freshly obtained skin lying about in the precincts of the fort. On searching for this, however, it was discovered that the greater part of it had been thrown away, only the gaudier portions having been cut into strips by the soldiers to be made into bandoliers. These strips, together with similar ones obtained from natives in the forest, I sent to England, to Dr. P. L. Sclater, for his consideration. Furnished by the Belgian officers with guides, and taking with me all the dwarfs whom I had brought from Uganda, I entered the forest, and remained there for some days searching for the okapi. All this time I was convinced that I was on the track of a species of horse; and therefore when the natives showed the tracks of a cloven-footed animal like the eland, and told us these were the foot-prints of the okapi, I disbelieved them, and imagined that we were merely following a forest-eland. We never saw the okapi; and as the life in the forest made the whole expedition extremely ill, and my time was required for official work elsewhere, I was obliged to give up this search. Meantime, I had elicited from the natives, whom I questioned closely, that the okapi was a creature without horns or any means of offence, the size of a large antelope or mule, which inhabited only the densest parts of the forest, and generally went about in pairs, male and female. It lived chiefly on leaves. The Belgian officers, seeing that I was disappointed at not obtaining a complete skin, offered to use their best efforts to obtain one for me, and send it on to Uganda after my departure.
THE OKAPI OF THE CONGO FOREST.Copyright to "The Sphere."THE OKAPI OF THE CONGO FOREST.Previous to the discovery of this ruminant the giraffe stood alone among the mammals of the world. It has now at least one living relative.
Copyright to "The Sphere."THE OKAPI OF THE CONGO FOREST.Previous to the discovery of this ruminant the giraffe stood alone among the mammals of the world. It has now at least one living relative.
Copyright to "The Sphere."
THE OKAPI OF THE CONGO FOREST.
Previous to the discovery of this ruminant the giraffe stood alone among the mammals of the world. It has now at least one living relative.
This promise was eventually redeemed by Mr. Karl Eriksson, a Swedish officer in the Belgian service. Mr. Eriksson sent me a complete skin and two skulls. The skin and the bigger of the two skulls belonged to a young male. This is the skin which is now set up in the Natural History Museum at South Kensington, and of which a photographic illustration accompanies this notice. Upon receiving this skin, I saw at once what the okapi was—namely, a close relation of the giraffe. From the very small development of the horn-bosses, I believed that it was nearer allied to the helladotherium than to the living giraffe. In forwarding the specimens to Professor Ray Lankester, I therefore proposed that it should be calledHelladotherium tigrinum. Professor Ray Lankester, having examined the specimens with a greater knowledge than I possessed, decided that the animal was rather more closely allied to the giraffe than to the helladotherium, but that it possessed sufficient peculiarities of its own to oblige him to create for its reception a new genus, which he proposed to callOcapia.
HEAD OF OKAPI.Copyright photograph by Hutchinson & Co.HEAD OF OKAPI.The enormous size of the ears is very noteworthy.
Copyright photograph by Hutchinson & Co.HEAD OF OKAPI.The enormous size of the ears is very noteworthy.
Copyright photograph by Hutchinson & Co.
HEAD OF OKAPI.
The enormous size of the ears is very noteworthy.
Meantime, the original strips of the skin (which apparently belonged to an older and larger animal than the specimen mounted at South Kensington) had been pronounced by experts to whom they were submitted to be the skin of an undiscovered species of horse, and this supposed new horse had been tentatively named by Dr. P. L. SclaterEquus johnstoni. The full discovery obliged Professor Ray Lankester to set aside any idea of the okapi being allied to the horse, but he was good enough to attach Mr. Sclater's specific name ofjohnstonito his newly founded genus ofOcapia.
Up to the time of writing this is all that is known of this extraordinary survival in the Congo Forest of the only living relation of the giraffe. We know by palæontological discoveries in Europe and in Asia that there existed a large family of ruminants which in their development and features were neither of the Ox group nor of the Deer, but in some respects occupied a position midway between these two branches of cloven-hoofed, horned, ruminating Ungulates. To this family the Giraffe, the Okapi, the Helladotherium, the Samotherium, the Sivatherium, and the Bramatherium belong. In all probability bony projections arose from the skulls of these creatures similar in some measure to the prominent bony cores of the horns of oxen. From the top, however, of these bony cores there would seem to have arisen anciently antlers, possibly deciduous like those of the prongbuck. In time creatures like the giraffe lost any need for such weapons of offence, and ceased to grow antlers; but the bony cores from which these antlers once proceeded still remained, and in the case of the giraffe remain to the present day. In the helladotherium and in the okapi these bony cores have dwindled to mere bumps.
THE DEER TRIBE.
BY H. A. BRYDEN.
Deer represent as a family the non-domesticated class of ruminants. Generally speaking, the males are distinguished by antlers, which are shed periodically, usually once a year, and again renewed. Comprising as it does some of the noblest mammals to be found on the face of the earth, this large and important tribe is to be found distributed over a large portion of the world's surface, from the Arctic North, the home of the wild reindeer, to Patagonia, in Southern South America. Deer are, however, not found in the continent of Africa south of the Sahara, nor in Madagascar or Australia. They are not indigenous to New Zealand; but the red deer, introduced there some years ago for purposes of sport, have thriven wonderfully well, and are now completely acclimatised.
From the earliest times deer, especially those species known as the true or typical deer, of which red deer may be said to be a type, have been animals of considerable importance to mankind. Their flesh has been always eagerly sought after; deer-skin is still, even in these days of high civilisation, useful for many purposes; and the antlers are almost equally in request.
It is more than probable that, in the vast and still little-explored regions of Central, East, and Northern Asia, new species of deer remain to be discovered. At the present time there are known to exist, in various parts of the world, close on a hundred species and varieties.
Within the space allotted to these animals it is, of course, manifestly impossible to notice all these in anything like detail. Many of the varieties or sub-species closely resemble one another, so much so that the differences between them are only apparent to the eyes of naturalists or acute observers.
The Reindeer.
SCANDINAVIAN REINDEER.Photo by Valentine & Sons, Ltd.][Dundee.SCANDINAVIAN REINDEER.The spreading hoofs enable the reindeer to traverse snow and swamps without sinking.
Photo by Valentine & Sons, Ltd.][Dundee.SCANDINAVIAN REINDEER.The spreading hoofs enable the reindeer to traverse snow and swamps without sinking.
Photo by Valentine & Sons, Ltd.][Dundee.
SCANDINAVIAN REINDEER.
The spreading hoofs enable the reindeer to traverse snow and swamps without sinking.
Reindeerare distinguished from all other kinds of deer by the fact that antlers are borne by both males and females. Theantlers, as may be seen by the illustration, differ materially from those of the red deer, elk, and other species; the brow-tines, especially, are often much palmated. These animals are heavily built, short-legged, and, as beseems dwellers in a snowy habitat, provided with round, short, and spreading hoofs. For ages reindeer have been domesticated by the Lapps of Scandinavia, the Samoyeds, and other primitive races of Northern Europe and Asia. Trained to harness, and drawing a sledge, they traverse long distances, while their milk, flesh, and hides are of great importance to the people who keep them. The Common orScandinavian Reindeerranges from Norway through Northern Europe into Asia, though how far eastward is not yet accurately determined. It is interesting to note that these animals were once denizens of Britain, and so lately as the twelfth century the Jarls of Orkney are believed to have been in the habit of crossing to the mainland for the purpose of hunting them in the wilds of Caithness. Wild reindeer are still to be found in the remoter parts of Norway, though, from much persecution, they are becoming comparatively scarce in most parts of the country.
WOODLAND CARIBOU.By permission of the New York Zoological Society.WOODLAND CARIBOU.This specimen has shed its horns, which are of the general type of those of the Scandinavian race.
By permission of the New York Zoological Society.WOODLAND CARIBOU.This specimen has shed its horns, which are of the general type of those of the Scandinavian race.
By permission of the New York Zoological Society.
WOODLAND CARIBOU.
This specimen has shed its horns, which are of the general type of those of the Scandinavian race.
Mr. Abel Chapman, in his "Wild Norway," gives some excellent accounts of sport with these fine deer. Speaking of a good herd of twenty-one, discovered in Ryfylke, he says: "Most of the deer were lying down, but both the big stags stood upright in dreamy, inert postures.... I now fully realised what a truly magnificent animal I had before me. Both in body and horn he was a giant, and his coat was no less remarkable; the neck was pure white, and beneath it a shaggy mane hung down a foot in length. This white neck was set off by the dark head in front and the rich glossy brown of his robe behind. Besides this the contrasting black and white bars on flanks and stern were conspicuously clean-cut and defined, and the long and massive antlers showed a splendid recurved sweep, surmounted by branch-like tines, all clean." For three long, agonising hours the stalker watched this noble prize, and then one of those lucky chances which occasionally gladden the hunter's heart occurred, and the reindeer approached within a hundred yards. "Half-a-dozen forward steps, and his white neck and dark shoulder were beautifully exposed. Already, ere his head had appeared, the rifle had been shifted over, and now the foresight dwelt lovingly on a thrice-refined aim. The .450 bullet struck to an inch, just where the shaggy mane joined the brown shoulder. The beast winced all over, but neither moved nor fell. A moment's survey, and I knew by the swaying of his head that he was mine." The weight of this big reindeer stag was estimated at 450 lbs., or 32 stone. He carried twenty-five points to his antlers, which measured 51 inches in extreme length.
IMMATURE SCANDINAVIAN ELK.Photo by the Duchess of Bedford][Woburn Abbey.IMMATURE SCANDINAVIAN ELK.The largest of all the Deer Tribe, and has antlers of an altogether abnormal type.
Photo by the Duchess of Bedford][Woburn Abbey.IMMATURE SCANDINAVIAN ELK.The largest of all the Deer Tribe, and has antlers of an altogether abnormal type.
Photo by the Duchess of Bedford][Woburn Abbey.
IMMATURE SCANDINAVIAN ELK.
The largest of all the Deer Tribe, and has antlers of an altogether abnormal type.
In addition to the common or Scandinavian reindeer, there are closely allied races, showing, however, slightly varying characteristics, found in Spitzbergen and Greenland. In North America, where only wild reindeer are found, these animals are known asCaribou. Here several sub-species are known: among them, theNewfoundland Caribou; theWoodland Caribouof the mainland; and theBarren-ground Caribou, found in the arctic wastes of the Far North-west, towards the Polar Ocean.
The Elk, or Moose.
FEMALE AMERICAN ELK, OR MOOSE.By permission of the New York Zoological Society.FEMALE AMERICAN ELK, OR MOOSE.The elk of the two hemispheres are so alike that they cannot be regarded as anything more than races of a single species.
By permission of the New York Zoological Society.FEMALE AMERICAN ELK, OR MOOSE.The elk of the two hemispheres are so alike that they cannot be regarded as anything more than races of a single species.
By permission of the New York Zoological Society.
FEMALE AMERICAN ELK, OR MOOSE.
The elk of the two hemispheres are so alike that they cannot be regarded as anything more than races of a single species.
This gigantic creature, the largest of all the numerous tribe of deer, is found, in the Old World, in Northern Europe, Siberia, and Northern China. Its range extends—for there is no real distinction between the elk of the Old and the New Worlds—to Northern America, where it is always known as theMoose. Its transatlantic habitat runs from the mouth of the Mackenzie River to the St. Lawrence. Wherever its abiding-place may be, it will be found that the elk is essentially a forest-loving creature, partial to the loneliest stretches of the woods and dreary marshes. Its fleshy, bulbous, prehensile muzzle shows plainly that the elk is a browsing beast, and not a grazing animal, like most other deer. The male carries vast palmated horns, measuring sometimes as much as 6 feet 1¼ inch in span from tip to tip; this measurement is from an American specimen in the possession of the Duke of Westminster. A fine Scandinavian bull will measure 18 hands at the withers and weigh as much as 90 stone, while the North American elk is said to attain as much as 1,400 lbs. In colour the elk is a dark brownish grey; the neck, body, and tail are short; while the animal stands very highupon the legs. Under the throat of the male hangs a singular appendage, a sort of tassel of hair and skin, known to American hunters as the "bell." The build of the elk is clumsy, and the mighty beast entirely lacks the grace characteristic of so many others of the deer kind. It has in truth a strangely primeval, old-world aspect, and seems rather to belong to prehistoric ages than to modern times.
In Scandinavia elk are hunted usually in two ways—by driving, or with a trained dog held in leash. In the royal forests of Sweden great bags are made at these drives; and in the year 1885, when a great hunt was got up for the present King of England, forty-nine elk were slain. Except during the rutting-season these titanic deer are extremely shy and suspicious creatures, and the greatest precautions have to be taken in hunting them.
In Canada moose are often shot during the rutting-season by "calling," a rude horn of birch-bark being used, with which the hunter simulates the weird, hoarse roar of the animals, as they call to one another, or challenge in the primeval woodlands and morasses of the wild North. Still-hunting or tracking—spooring, as it would be called in South Africa—is another and extremely fatiguing method; while yet another mode of hunting is that practised by Indian and half-breed hunters in winter, when, the sportsman being mounted on snow-shoes, the moose is followed, run into and shot in deep snow. In this sport the hunter has much the better of it. The moose, with its vast weight and sharp hoofs, plunges through the frozen snow-crust, over which the snow-shoes carry the biped easily enough, and, becoming presently exhausted, is shot without much difficulty. Elk usually run at a steady, slinging trot, and traverse extraordinary distances, apparently with little fatigue.
Red Deer.
PARK RED DEER.Photo by C. Reid][Wishaw, N.B.PARK RED DEER.The typical representative of the entire Deer Tribe.
Photo by C. Reid][Wishaw, N.B.PARK RED DEER.The typical representative of the entire Deer Tribe.
Photo by C. Reid][Wishaw, N.B.
PARK RED DEER.
The typical representative of the entire Deer Tribe.
We come now to a group of what are called typical deer, theRed Deer, found in various parts of the world. The red deer, which once roamed over much of Britain, is now in the wild state confined chiefly to the Highlands of Scotland, Exmoor, part of County Kerry in Ireland, and various islands on the west coast of Scotland. A good male specimen will stand about 4 feet or a little less at the shoulder, carry antlers bearing twelve or fourteen points, and weigh from 10 to 20 stone clean—that is, with the heart, liver, and lungs taken out. The woodland stags of Perthshire, however, not infrequently reach 25 stone, while Mr. J. G. Millais mentions a stag, killed by Colonel the Hon. Alastair Fraser at Beaufort, Inverness-shire, which scaled 30 stone 2 lbs. clean. This seems to be the heaviest British wild stag of modern times. The summer coat is short, shining, and reddish brown in hue; in winter the pelage isthicker and rougher and greyish brown in colour. Stalking the red deer stag in its native fastnesses is beyond all doubt the finest wild sport now left to the inhabitants of these islands.
AN ASIATIC WAPITI.Photo by W. P. Dando][Regent's Park.AN ASIATIC WAPITI.All the races of the wapiti are easily recognisable by the large fourth tine of the antlers and the short tail.
Photo by W. P. Dando][Regent's Park.AN ASIATIC WAPITI.All the races of the wapiti are easily recognisable by the large fourth tine of the antlers and the short tail.
Photo by W. P. Dando][Regent's Park.
AN ASIATIC WAPITI.
All the races of the wapiti are easily recognisable by the large fourth tine of the antlers and the short tail.
Mr. J. G. Millais, author of "British Deer and their Horns" and other works, himself a first-rate sportsman in many parts of the world, compares the style of shooting red deer in vogue forty or fifty years ago with that obtaining in the Highlands at the present day. "A stalker in Black Mount, Argyllshire," he says, "told me of a typical day's sport in which he took part some forty years ago. Fox Maule and Sir Edwin Landseer were the two rifles (they frequently stalked in pairs at that time), and, on the side of Clashven, Peter Robertson, the head forester, brought them within eighty yards of two exceptionally fine stags. Maule fired and missed, as did also Sir Edwin as the stags moved away; then, on a signal from Robertson. Peter McColl, the gillie, slipped the hounds—the two best ever owned by the late Marquis of Breadalbane, and whose portraits are still preserved in the famous picture of 'The Deer Drive'—and away they went in hot pursuit of the deer. An end-on chase now ensued, the line taken being due east down the great glen towards Loch Dochart, and at last the stalkers were brought to a standstill, being fairly exhausted both in wind and limb. At this moment, however, four dark spots, like small rocks, standing out at the point of a little promontory in the lake, attracted their attention, and, on drawing nearer, they saw, to their surprise, each of the big stags being held at bay by a gallant hound. A couple of shots then settled the business, and so ended what was then considered a grand day's sport. No doubt it was most exciting to see the struggle of bone and sinew between two such noble quadrupeds, but it was not rifle-shooting. To-day the gallant but disturbing deer-hound has given place to the cunning and obedient collie, and the success of the stalker depends, for the most part, on the accuracy of his rifle and his skill in using it."
AMERICAN WAPITI.Photo by the Duchess of Bedford][Woburn Abbey.AMERICAN WAPITI.The giant deer of the Rocky Mountains, formerly very plentiful, now scarce.
Photo by the Duchess of Bedford][Woburn Abbey.AMERICAN WAPITI.The giant deer of the Rocky Mountains, formerly very plentiful, now scarce.
Photo by the Duchess of Bedford][Woburn Abbey.
AMERICAN WAPITI.
The giant deer of the Rocky Mountains, formerly very plentiful, now scarce.
Here are a couple of sketches of modern stalking taken from Mr. Millais' own diary:—
"Wednesday, October 4th.—Started for the big corrie with McColl, and saw nothing till we got to the Eagle Hill. On this were three stags and about twenty hinds, the property of a magnificent fellow carrying one of the best heads I have ever seen on Black Mount. For some time McColl thought he was just a bit too good to shoot, for the very best in this forest are generally left for stock purposes. Finding, however, that, he was not Royal [a twelve-pointer], my companion agreed to a shot—that is, if he got within shooting distance, which was not too likely, the Eagle Hill being one of those queer places where back eddies are carried down from almost every 'airt' from which the wind is blowing. Luck is apparently entirely my way this week, so far at any rate. The big stag was very 'kittle,' frequently roaring and keeping his hinds moving before him along the hillside, in the direction of another corrie running at right angles, the entrance to which, if reached, would checkmate us. A quick, stiff climb, and a clashing piece of stalking on the part of McColl, brought us in front of the herd only just in time, for I had hardly got into position when the first few hinds moved past a hundred yards below us. They were very uneasy and highly suspicious, but fortunately did not stop; and in another moment, to my joy, the big stag came slowly behind them, and offered a fair broadside in the very spot where I should have wished him to stand. The bullet took him through the ribs, certainly a trifle too far back, but he gave in at once, and rolled 150 yards down the hill, fortunately without hurting his horns. A really fine Highland stag in his prime; weight, 16 stone 2 lbs., with a good wild head of ten points, and good cups on the top."
"Thursday, October 5th.—We negotiated the stiff climb, and McLeish, leaving me behind a rock on the summit, returned some distance to signal directions to the pony-man. He came back just as the stag returned roaring down the pass he had ascended; and as the mist was blotting out the landscape, I feared he would come right on to us without being seen, but, as luck would have it, he stopped and recommenced bellowing within seventy yards. I never heard a stag make such a row, but nothing of him could we see. It was most exciting, lying flat on a slab of rock, hoping devoutly that the mist would rise, if only for a few seconds. The tension had grown extreme, when there was a momentary lift in the gloom, and I made out the dim forms of the deer just as a big hind, which I had not noticed, 'bruached' loudly within twenty yards of us. The outline of the stag was barely visible when, after carefully aiming, I pressed the trigger, knowing that a moment later there would be no second chance. At the shot the deer at once disappeared, but I felt sure I had hit him, and, on following the tracks for some fifty yards, there he lay as dead as a door-nail. Weight, 13 stone 6 lbs.; a wild head of ten points; thin, and evidently that of a deer on the decline."
AMERICAN WAPITI.Photo by Mr. W. Rau][Philadelphia.AMERICAN WAPITI.The dark head, fore-quarters, and under-parts, so distinctive of the wapiti, are here well displayed.
Photo by Mr. W. Rau][Philadelphia.AMERICAN WAPITI.The dark head, fore-quarters, and under-parts, so distinctive of the wapiti, are here well displayed.
Photo by Mr. W. Rau][Philadelphia.
AMERICAN WAPITI.
The dark head, fore-quarters, and under-parts, so distinctive of the wapiti, are here well displayed.
In England the wild red deer are hunted with stag-hounds on Exmoor, and first-rate sport is obtained on the great moorlands of Somerset and Devon. During the last fifty years the deer have much increased in numbers, and no less than three packs—the Devon and Somerset, Sir John Heathcoat-Amory's, and Mr. Peter Ormrod's—are now engaged in huntingthem. In the five years ending in 1892, 276 deer were killed by the Devon and Somerset hounds.
The young of the red deer are in Europe usually dropped in June. The fawn is dexterously concealed by the hind amid the heather, and is left in concealment during the day. Scrope, a great authority on these animals, states that the hind induces her fawn to lie down by pressure of the nose: "It will never stir or lift up its head the whole of the day, unless you come right upon it, as I have often done; it lies like a dog, with its nose to its tail. The hind, however, although she often separates herself from the young fawn, does not lose sight of its welfare, but remains at a distance to windward, and goes to its succour in case of an attack of the wild cat or fox, or any other powerful vermin."
On the Continent far finer examples of red deer are to be found than in the British Isles, and the antlers and records of weights preserved at the Castle of Moritzburg in Saxony, and elsewhere, show that two hundred years ago the stags of Germany were far superior even to those of the present day, which are much heavier and afford finer trophies than do the Highland red deer. Even in Germany, however, marked deterioration has taken place during the last two centuries. A stag, for example, killed by the Elector of Saxony in 1646 weighed not less than 61 stone 11 lbs.; while from the Elector's records between 1611 and 1656 it appears that 59 stags exceeded 56 stone, 651 exceeded 48 stone, 2,679 exceeded 40 stone, and 4,139 exceeded 32 stone. These figures are given by Mr. W. A. Baillie-Grohman, a distinguished sportsman, in a very interesting chapter contributed to the "Big Game Shooting" volumes of the Badminton Library.
AMERICAN WAPITI.By permission of the New York Zoological Society.AMERICAN WAPITI.In the United States this species is universally miscalled the Elk.
By permission of the New York Zoological Society.AMERICAN WAPITI.In the United States this species is universally miscalled the Elk.
By permission of the New York Zoological Society.
AMERICAN WAPITI.
In the United States this species is universally miscalled the Elk.
This deterioration among the red deer of the forests of Central and Northern Europe is, however, not traceable among the red deer of the wild mountainous regions of Austria-Hungaryand South-eastern Europe. Here, at the present day, stags of enormous size and weight are still to be found. In the Carpathian Alps, for example, red deer stags are still to be shot scaling more than 40 stone (clean) in weight. Climate and feeding have, of course, much to do with the weight of stags and the size and beauty of their antlers. The Carpathian stags have enormous range, rich food, and, as Mr. Baillie-Grohman points out, are suffered during the summer to "make undisturbed raids upon the rich agricultural valleys ... the feudal sway exercised by the great territorial magnates permitting the deer to trespass upon the crops with impunity, and thus grow to be the lustiest of their race."
In addition to the British Islands, the red deer of Europe is found on the island of Hitteren on the western coast of Norway, in the south of Sweden, and in Germany, Russia, France, Spain, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, and Greece.
ALTAI WAPITI.Photo by W. P. Dando][Regent's Park.ALTAI WAPITI.This is one of several Asiatic forms of the wapiti.
Photo by W. P. Dando][Regent's Park.ALTAI WAPITI.This is one of several Asiatic forms of the wapiti.
Photo by W. P. Dando][Regent's Park.
ALTAI WAPITI.
This is one of several Asiatic forms of the wapiti.
In Corsica and Sardinia a local and smaller race is found, probably closely allied to the stag of North Africa. TheBarbary Stagis somewhat smaller than its first cousin of Europe, and carries antlers which usually lack the second, or bez, tine. The colour of this stag is "a dark sepia-brown, a little lighter and greyer on the back. Faint yellowish spots can occasionally be distinguished on the fur in the adults," says Sir Harry Johnston. The hinds are of the same colour as the stags, but lack the grey tint on the back. These fine deer are found in Algeria and Tunis, their habitat being chiefly in pine and cork forests. They are found also in parts of Morocco, near the frontiers of Algeria and Tunis, where their range extends from near the Mediterranean to the verge of the Sahara Desert. Formerly the Barbary stag was hunted by the Arabs on horseback by the aid of greyhounds. In Tunis, where it is protected by the French, it is now fairly abundant.
The Maral and Kashmir Stag.
TheCaspian Red Deer, orMaral, is a magnificent sub-species, incomparably the finest representative of the red deer species. Standing about 4 feet 6 inches at the shoulder, a good stag will weigh as much as 40 stone clean, in exceptional specimens probably a good deal more. The range of this noble beast includes the Caspian provinces of North Persia, Transcaucasia, the Caucasus, and the Crimea. There can be little doubt that the great stags shot in the Galician Carpathians are Caspian red deer, and not the ordinary red deer of Western Europe. The red deer of Turkey is, too, no doubt referable to this sub-species.
Continuing our survey of typical deer, we come to theKashmir Stag, which is a magnificent beast, standing as much as 4 feet 4 inches at the shoulder, and carrying antlers approaching the red deer type, which measure in fine specimens from 45 to 48 inches. The Kashmir stag, often miscalled Barasingh by Indian sportsmen, makes its home in the forest regions of the north side of the Kashmir Valley, ranging chiefly on altitudes of from 5,000 to 12,000 feet.The summer coat is rufous; in winter the pelage is of a darkish brown. The Yarkand stag is an apparently allied species, found in the forests bordering on the Yarkand or Tarim River.
Two more stags close the list of those Asiatic deer which approximate more or less closely to the red deer type. These are theShou, orSikhim Stag, andThorold's Deer, concerning neither of which animals is much known at present. The shou, of which only the head has yet been brought to England, appears to be a very large stag, in size approximating to the gigantic wapiti. The antlers are very large, extending to as much as 55 inches over the outer curve. So far as is at present known, this great deer is found in the country "north of Bhutan and the valley eastward of Chumbi, which drains northward into the Sangpo." No European hunter, it is believed, has ever yet levelled a rifle or even set eyes on this noble deer.
In England Thorold's deer is known from two specimens shot by Dr. W. G. Thorold, during a journey across Tibet, at an elevation of about 13,500 feet. The high Tibetan plateau and other adjacent parts of Central Asia form the habitat of this species. In size Thorold's deer is about on a level with the Kashmir stag: the coat is dark brown; the antlers are distinctive in their backward curve, in the lack of the bez tine, and their flattened appearance. The muzzle and chin are pure white, as is the inner surface of the ears.
Wapiti.
Wapiti are the giants of the red deer group, carrying enormous antlers, and attaining as much as 1,000 lbs. in weight. The true wapiti of North America, known in that country chiefly by the local name of Elk, carry by far the finest and the heaviest heads of any of the typical deer kind. Mr. Rowland Ward, in his book "Records of Big Game," gives the length of antlers of a twelve-pointer shot in the Olympic Mountains, Washington State, as 70 inches over the outer curve; while another specimen, also a twelve-pointer, taken from a wapiti shot in Wyoming, measures 66 inches. Occasional heads bear as many as 17, 19, and even 20 tines, or points, but from 12 to 14 points are more usual in fine average heads. A good stag will stand from 5 feet 4 inches to 5 feet 8 inches at the shoulder. Magnificently shaped, splendid in form and bearing, as in the size of its antlers, a more lordly creature than the stag wapiti does not pace the earth.
MANCHURIAN WAPITI CALLING.Photo by G. W. Wilson & Co., Ltd.][Aberdeen.MANCHURIAN WAPITI CALLING.The great size of the fourth tine, characteristic of the species, is very noticeable.
Photo by G. W. Wilson & Co., Ltd.][Aberdeen.MANCHURIAN WAPITI CALLING.The great size of the fourth tine, characteristic of the species, is very noticeable.
Photo by G. W. Wilson & Co., Ltd.][Aberdeen.
MANCHURIAN WAPITI CALLING.
The great size of the fourth tine, characteristic of the species, is very noticeable.
"The wapiti," says Colonel Theodore Roosevelt in "The Encyclopedia of Sport," "is highly polygamous, and during the rut the master bulls gather great harems about them and do fierce battle with one another, while the weaker bulls are driven off by themselves. At this time the bulls are comparatively easy to approach, because they are very noisy, incessantly challenging one another by night and day. Settlers and hunters usually speak of their challenge as 'whistling,' but this is a very inadequate description. The challenge consists of several notes, first rising and then falling. Heard near by, especially among unattractive surroundings, it is not particularly impressive, varying in tone from a squeal to a roar, and ending with grunts; but at a littledistance it is one of the most musical sounds in nature, sounding like some beautiful wind instrument. Nothing makes the heart of a hunter leap and thrill like the challenge of a wapiti bull, as it comes pealing down under the great archways of the mountain pines, through the still, frosty, fall weather; all the more if it be at night, under the full moon, and if there is light snow on the ground."
Wapiti in North America have suffered much from persecution, and it is now difficult indeed to secure fine heads like those that fell to hunters twenty or thirty years since. Twelve or fifteen years ago, during winter-time, bands of wapiti in Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana were to be seen gathered together to the number of thousands; now a score or two is the rule, where these animals are to be found at all. However, by those who know where to go for their game, and can hold a rifle straight, wapiti are still to be obtained.
Mr. Selous, in his "Sport and Travel, East and West," thus describes a recent experience: "After a few seconds of agonising suspense a noble-looking monarch of the mountains walked slowly from the shelter of the pine-trees and followed the ladies of his household, who had now halted about fifty yards down the slope, passing in quite open ground not more than sixty or seventy yards below me; and as the stag followed them, I waited until he came past, though he had been well within shot ever since he came out from among the trees. As he did not know where I was, and probably had not the least idea why the hinds had trotted off, he came along very leisurely, looking magnificent; for although his antlers were but moderate in size, there were no others of larger proportions near to dwarf them, and even a very ordinary wapiti stag, seen at short range in its native wilds, is a glorious sight to look upon. I let him get a little past me, and then put one of Holland's peg-bullets just behind his shoulder, low down. I saw by the convulsive rush forwards that he made that he was struck through the heart, but I did not expect so large an animal to collapse so quickly. He had not gone twenty paces after being hit, when he fell suddenly right on to the prostrate stem of a large tree, which did not, however, stop him, as the impetus of his fall carried him over it, and he then went sliding at a terrific pace down the steep snow-slope below, and disappeared from sight almost immediately." The dead wapiti was ultimately found 500 feet below, with the antlers, strangely enough, scarcely injured, but the body and quarters much bruised by the fall. He was "a very pretty fourteen-pointer of moderate size."
AN AXIS HIND.Photo by C. Reid][Wishaw, N.B.AN AXIS HIND.A species spotted at all seasons.
Photo by C. Reid][Wishaw, N.B.AN AXIS HIND.A species spotted at all seasons.
Photo by C. Reid][Wishaw, N.B.
AN AXIS HIND.
A species spotted at all seasons.
A fight between two wapiti stags is a terrific encounter. "With heads lowered between their fore feet," says Mr. Perry, "the two adversaries walk around, waiting for an opening; and when one is thrown off his guard, the other makes a savage rush; but his opponent instantly recovers, counters the charge, and as they rush together the antlers strike each other with such terrific force that the report can be heard for a long distance. Slowly retreating, bellowing, grumbling, and grinding their teeth in a paroxysm of rage, they again circle round.... The challenging wapiti usually does most of the offensive fighting until he finds (if such be the case) that he is the weaker; then he suddenly retires, bellowing as he goes." In the old days the Indians of North America were in the habit of organising great wapiti drives. Entire herds were surrounded by a ring of mounted men, and forced over precipices.
A STAG AXIS, OR INDIAN SPOTTED DEER.By permission of the New York Zoological Society.A STAG AXIS, OR INDIAN SPOTTED DEER.One of the most common animals in an Indian jungle scene.
By permission of the New York Zoological Society.A STAG AXIS, OR INDIAN SPOTTED DEER.One of the most common animals in an Indian jungle scene.
By permission of the New York Zoological Society.
A STAG AXIS, OR INDIAN SPOTTED DEER.
One of the most common animals in an Indian jungle scene.
A SPOTTED ORIENTAL DEER.By permission of Professor Bumpus][New York.A SPOTTED ORIENTAL DEER.One of the numerous Philippine species.
By permission of Professor Bumpus][New York.A SPOTTED ORIENTAL DEER.One of the numerous Philippine species.
By permission of Professor Bumpus][New York.
A SPOTTED ORIENTAL DEER.
One of the numerous Philippine species.
In recent years it has been discovered that wapiti are also denizens of certain parts of Asia. At least two sub-species—theAltai Wapitiand theManchurian Wapiti—have thus far been identified. The former, sometimes known as the Thian-shan Stag, is found in the forests of the Altai and Thian-shan Mountains, west of the Mongolian Desert. Compared with its American congener, it is inferior in stature, has shorter legs, a longer body, and proportionately larger antlers, though none have yet approached those of the longest American specimens. These splendid stags, of which living specimens have been maintained by the Duke of Bedford at Woburn, are captured alive by the Altai natives, and kept in domestication for the sake of their antlers, which are sold in China for purposes of medicine at as much as the value of £10 apiece.
TheManchurian Wapiti, orLuehdorf's Stag, is a well-marked local race of the wapiti, which turns reddish in summer. It has received several names, and is well characterised by the form of its antlers. It has been kept alive in the Duke of Bedford's park at Woburn Abbey. It seems probable that the Siberian stags will eventually be referred to the wapiti group.
Bokhara Deer.
A fine deer from Russian Turkestan is at present known as theBokhara Deer. It is said to resemble the shou of Northern Bhutan more than any other species, and, standing about 4 feet at the shoulder, is of an ashen-grey colour, tinged with yellow. A living specimen has been exhibited at Moscow, and it is believed that specimens in the collection of the Duke of Bedford belong to this form.
Sikas.
TheSikas, as typified by theJapanese Deer, are a group of deer of moderate size, distinguished from the preceding assemblage by antlers of simpler type, each antler having usually four points, and lacking the second, or bez tine. The coat is spotted with white, and white markings appear about the tail. The tail is much longer than in the red deer group. The Japanese deer, found in Japan and North China, is a beautiful creature, somewhat smaller than the fallow deer of Europe, having a coat of brilliant chestnut, thickly spotted with white in curious longitudinal markings. This is the summer pelage; in winter the colour changes to dark brown, and the spots mostly disappear. When in the velvet, the antlers are of a bright, chestnut-red, with black tips, and at this season the bucks look their handsomest. A good head measures from 26 to 31 inches, and carries usually eight points.
TheManchurian Sikamay be looked upon as a larger variety of the Japanese deer, with a somewhat darker coat.
Another closely allied form is theFormosan Sika, which bears a rather paler summer coat, and carries spots in its winter pelage. This deer is found on the mountains of the island from which it takes its name. The few antlers which have reached this country seem to indicate that in this respect this deer is inferior to the other sikas. The longest pair yet recorded measure not more than 19¾ inches.
ThePekin Sika, sometimes known as Dybowski's Deer, is considerably larger in size than the rest of the group, standing well over 3 feet at the shoulder. The horns are large and rugged, and measure as much as 27 inches in length. The coat is thick and shaggy, and well adapted for life in a harsh climate. The habitat of this species is North-eastern Manchuria and the borders of Korea.
Fallow Deer.
Fallow Deerare, perhaps, to English people, the most familiar of all the cervine race, forming as they do, in the semi-domesticated state, the adornments of most of our parks. The flesh of this handsome deer furnishes the well-known venison of this country, and is perhaps the best-tasted of all deer-meat. A good fallow buck stands about 3 feet at the shoulder, and weighs (clean) about 150 lbs., though specimens have been shot weighing as much as 204 lbs., but this is exceptional. The horns are strongly palmated. Originally this deer was not indigenous to Britain, but is often said to have been introduced by the Romans from Eastern Europe.