they are also subject to capricious fits of fierceness; and, on these occasions, will strike furiously with their horns and feet at the object of their dislike. The only parts of Great Britain where they are found are the Highlands of Scotland.

Is the largest and most formidable of all the Deer kind. His horns spread into large broad palms, and he has an excrescence under the throat, the use of which has not yet been explained. He lives in forests, upon branches and sprouts of trees, and is an inhabitant of Europe, Asia, and America; in the last named country he is known by the name of Moose-Deer. The pace of the Elk is a high, shambling trot, but it goes with great swiftness. Formerly these animals were made use of in Sweden to draw sledges, but their swiftness gave criminals such means of escape, that this use of them was prohibited under great penalties. The Elk is timid and inoffensive, except when wounded, and then he will strike with both horns and hoofs, and he possesses such agility and strength of limbs, that, with a single blow of the fore foot, he will kill a wolf or a dog. The female is less than the male, and has no horns.

Is found in most of the northern regions of Europe, Asia, and America. Its general height is about four feet and a half. The colour is brown above and white beneath; but as the animal advances in age, it often becomes of a grayish white. The hoofs are long, large, and black. Both sexes are furnished with horns, but those of the male are much the largest. To the Laplander this animal is the substitute for the horse, the cow, the goat, and the sheep; and is their only wealth. The milk affords them cheese; the flesh, food; the skin, clothing; of the tendons they make bowstrings, and, when split, thread; of the horns, glue; and of the bones, spoons. During the winter the Reindeer supplies the want of a horse, and draws sledges with amazing swiftness over the frozen lakes and rivers, or over the snow which at that time covers the whole country. Innumerable are the uses, the comforts, and advantages, which the poor inhabitants of this dreary

climate derive from this animal. We cannot sum them up better than in the beautiful language of the poet :

Their Reindeer form their riches. These their tents,
Their robes, their beds, and all their homely wealth
Supply, their wholesome fare, and cheerful cups:
Obsequious at their call, the docile tribe

Yield to the sled their necks, and whirl them swift
O'er hill and dale, heap'd into one expanse
Of marbled snow, as far as eye can sweep,
With a blue crust of ice unbounded glazed.

Is between the goat and the deer kind. Swiftness and elegance of shape this animal possesses to a considerable degree, and inhabits the temperate zone of Asia and Africa. He has horns like the goat, and never sheds them; these horns are smooth, long, and twisted spirally or annulated. The general colour of the hair is brown, and, in some species, of a beautiful yellow. Timid animals are of course inoffensive, and the Antelopes, like other gregarious creatures, are fond of living together. The eyes are exceedingly bright; and to them those of a beautiful nymph have often been com

pared by Persian and other poets. Enjoying an unbounded share of liberty, they range in herds, through the deserts of Africa, and bound from rock to rock with wonderful agility.

Is an inhabitant of India, and seems of a middle nature between the cow and the deer kind; in his body, horns, and tail he resembles the former, but the head, neck, and legs bear similarity to those of the latter. In the wild state these animals are said to be ferocious, but they may be domesticated, and in that condition give frequent tokens of familiarity, and even of gratitude, to those under whose care they are placed. The female, or doe, is much smaller than the male, and is of a yellowish colour, by which she is easily distinguished from the buck, who is of a gray tint.

Its manner of fighting is very particular, and is thus described:-Two of the males, at Lord Clive's, being put into an enclosure, were observed, while they were at some distance from each other, to prepare for the attack, by falling down upon their knees: they then shuffled towards each other, still keeping upon their

knees; and, at the distance of a few yards, they made a spring, and darted against each other with great force.

The following anecdote will serve to show that during the rutting season these animals are fierce and vicious, and not to be depended upon:-A labouring man, without knowing that the animal was near him, went up to the outside of the enclosure: the Nyl Ghaw, with the quickness of lightning, darted against the woodwork with such violence, that he dashed it to pieces, and broke one of his horns close to the root. The death of the animal, soon after, was supposed to be owing to the injury he sustained by the blow.

A VERY beautiful species of the deer, found in Africa and the East Indies, of a light red colour, though some of the kind are of a deeper red. He is about the size of a fallow deer, and often variegated with beautiful spots of bright white. The horns are slender and triple forked. The Axis is a native of Ceylon and Borneo, a timid and harmless creature, more ornamental to the landscape, where it skips and plays in a wild state, than useful to man.