HKB
to the trappers of the Upper Missouri. Another is a well-marked species, on account of the length of its tail--whence it has received its hunter appellation of the Long-tailed Deer.
The Deer of Europe are not numerous in species; but if we consider the large herds shut up in parks, they are perhaps as plentiful in numbers as elsewhere, over a like extent of territory.
The Reindeer and Elk, as already stated, are both indigenous to Europe; so also the Stag or Red Deer, the greatest ornament of our parks. The red deer runs wild in Scotland, and in most of the great forests of Europe and Asia. There are also varieties of this noble animal, a small one being found in the mountains of Corsica.
The Fallow-Deer is too well-known to need description. It is enough to say that it exists wild in most countries of Europe, our own excepted. Into this country it is supposed to have been introduced from Denmark.
The Roebuck, another species of our parks, is indigenous to both England and Scotland. It is now found plentiful only in the northern parts of Great Britain. It is a native also of Italy, Sweden, Norway, and Siberia.
The African Deer consist of two species, supposed to be varieties of red deer. They are found in Barbary, and usually known as the Barbary Deer. But the fallow-deer also exists in North Africa, in the woods of Tunis and Algiers; and Cuvier has asserted that the fallow-deer originally came from Africa. This is not probable, since they are at present met with over the whole continent of Asia, even in China itself.
We now arrive at the species more especially termed Asiatic or Indian Beer. These form a numerous group, containing species that differ essentially from each other.
There is the Ritsa, or Great Black Stag of the Japanese and Sumatrans. It is named black stag, from its dark brown colour during winter. It is fully as large as our own stag; and is further distinguished by long hair growing upon the upper part of its neck, cheeks, and throat, which gives it the appearance of having a beard and mane! It inhabits Bengal, and some of the large Indian islands.
The Samboo, or Sambur, is another large species, not unlike the rusa. It is found in various parts of India, and especially in the tropical island of Ceylon. Several varieties of it have been described by naturalists.
In the Himalaya Mountains there exist two or three species of large deer, not very well-known. One is the Saul Forest Stag, or Bara-singa-- a species almost as large as the Canadian wapiti. Another is the Marl, or Wallich's Stag, which is also found in Persia. Still another species, the Sika, inhabits Japan; and yet another, the Baringa, or Spotted Deer of the Sunderbunds, dwells along the marshy rivers of this last-mentioned territory. Again, there is the Spotted Rusa, and other species, inhabitants of the Saul Forests. In fact, the number of species of Indian deer is far from being accurately ascertained, to say nothing of the very imperfect descriptions given of those that are actually known.
When we come to the great Oriental islands--the Isles of Ind--we find many new and beautiful species; some being large noble stags, while others are tiny graceful little creatures like gazelles.
In Sumatra and Borneo we have a distinct species of Sambur Deer; in Timor a smaller one; a third exists in Java; and a fourth in the Philippines. In Java, too, we find the beautiful little Muntjak; and another tiny variety in China, called the Chinese Muntjak.