Cervus campestris, _F. Cuvier_, in Dict. des Sc. Nat. VII. p. 484.
——, Cuvier Oss. Foss. IV. p. 51. Pl. 3. f. 46.[14]
Guazuti, _Azara_, “Natural History of the Quadrupeds of Paraguay.” W.
P. Hunter’s translation, vol. i. p. 135.
——, French translation, vol. i. p. 77.
Besides skins of this species of stag, I find, in Mr. Darwin’s
collection, three pairs of horns, which, together with a pair belonging
to one of the skins, constitute a sufficiently complete series to
illustrate the different forms which these appendages assume, as the
animal increases in size.
[Illustration]
The above four sketches, which are all drawn to the same scale, will
help to convey a clear idea of the forms, and relative proportions, of
these horns.
The most simple horn (fig. 1.) consists of a _beam_, eight and a half
inches long, which is slightly arched outwards and considerably
compressed about two and a half inches from the apex. At one inch from
the base there is a small brow antler which projects forwards and
upwards.
In the next horn, (fig. 2.) there is the same small brow antler, but
there is a single small _snag_, about equal in size to the brow antler,
which is directed backwards and upwards, and is situated at three and a
quarter inches from the apex of the beam. The total length of the beam
is eight inches, measured in a straight line.
The third pair of horns, (fig. 3.) which must have belonged to an animal
considerably older than either of the preceding pairs, exhibits a large
brow antler, in length exceeding half that of the beam: here the
posterior snag is also large, and is directed backwards and upwards,
whilst the apical portion of the beam is directed forward about as much
as the snag is directed backwards. The total length of this horn is
eleven and a half inches, measured in a straight line.
The last figure (No. 4.) represents the horn of one of the specimens of
which an entire skin was brought over. This horn differs only from the
last in being slightly larger, and in having two additional small snags,
one springing from the under side, and near the apex, of the brow
antler, and the other springing from the hinder part, and near the apex
of the great posterior snag.
“The Spaniards say they can distinguish how old a deer is by the number
of the branches on the horns. They affirmed that the specimen, of which
figure 4 represents one of the horns, was nine years old. It certainly
was a very old one, as all its teeth were decayed. This specimen was
killed at Maldonado, in the middle of June; another specimen was killed
at Bahia Blanca, (about three hundred and sixty miles southward,) in the
month of October, with the hairy skin on the horns: there were others,
however, whose horns were free from skin. At this time of the year, many
of the does had just kidded. I was informed, by the Spaniards, that this
deer sheds its horns every year.
“The _Cervus campestris_ is exceedingly abundant throughout the
countries bordering the Plata. It is found in Northern Patagonia as far
south as the Rio Negro, (Lat. 41°); but, further southward, none were
seen by the officers employed in surveying the coast. It appears to
prefer a hilly country; I saw very many small herds, containing from
five to seven animals each, near the Sierra Ventana, and among the hills
north of Maldonado. If a person, crawling close along the ground, slowly
advances towards a herd, the deer frequently approach, out of curiosity,
to reconnoitre him. I have by this means killed, from one spot, three
out of the same herd. Although thus so tame and inquisitive, yet, when
approached on horseback, they are exceedingly wary. In this country
nobody goes on foot, and the deer knows man as its enemy, only when he
is mounted, and armed with the bolas. At Bahia Blanca, a recent
establishment in Northern Patagonia, I was surprised to find how little
the deer cared for the noise of a gun: one day, I fired ten times, from
within eighty yards, at one animal, and it was much more startled at the
ball cutting up the ground, than at the report.
“The most curious fact, with respect to this animal, is the
overpoweringly strong and offensive odour which proceeds from the buck.
It is quite indescribable: several times, whilst skinning the specimen,
which is now mounted at the Zoological Museum, I was almost overcome by
nausea. I tied up the skin in a silk pocket-handkerchief, and so carried
it home: this handkerchief, after being well washed, I continually used,
and it was, of course, as repeatedly washed; yet every time, when first
unfolded, for a space of one year and seven months, I distinctly
perceived the odour. This appears an astonishing instance of the
permanence of some matter, which in its nature, nevertheless, must be
most subtile and volatile. Frequently, when passing at the distance of
half a mile to leeward of a herd, I have perceived the whole air tainted
with the effluvium. I believe the smell from the buck is most powerful
at the period when its horns are perfect, or free from the hairy skin.
When in this state the meat is, of course, quite uneatable; but the
Spaniards assert, that if buried for some time in fresh earth, the taint
is removed. These deer generally weigh about sixty or seventy
pounds.”—D.