beam, rather as an extension of the horn itself than as a mere shoot. The horn may be compared to the segment of a circle, the burr, or root from which both limbs extend, being placed on the outer circumference. The beam is round, and terminates by a fork, as in the Rusa deer. The lower prolongation of the horn beneath the burr may also be said to terminate in a fork, for on the left horn, about two inches below the root, there is a small snag directed forward. In illustration of this notice, a figure of the horns is given at pl. 12."

Captain Eld, one of the principal assistants to the Commissioner of Assam, who had been previously attached to the British Residency in Muneypore, having had his attention called to the notice and the figure alluded to, soon after wrote an interesting letter on the subject, which affords the first general information hitherto received relative to the habits and character of this interesting species. His description is as follows: "I observe mention made of a new description of Deer, said to exist between Munipore and Cachar; some specimens of the horns of which were procured in the latter place by Captain Guthrie. From the drawing, it is evident to me that the Deer alluded to is of the kind originally discovered by myself in the valley of Munipore in the beginning of 1838, and several pairs of the antlers of which were given by me to Captain Guthrie in the same year, I had intended at the time to send a description of the animal to one of the Journals, but was told that a similar Deer was to be found in the north-western jungles. As this, however, does not appear to be the case, I now forward you a correct drawing of a pair of the horns in my possession, together with a short account of the animal &c. taken from notes made at the time in my sporting diary; and which you are welcome to make use of in any way you please.

"The Sungrace, as it is called by the natives, or large Deer of Munipore, is only to be found in the valley of that state, but neither in Cachar, nor the Kubo valley, nor in any of the Naga hills surrounding Munipore. Its favourite haunts are the low grass and swamps round the edge of the Logta, (lake) at the western end of the valley, and the marshy ground at the foot of the hills. It is gregarious in its habits, and after the annual grass burning, I have frequently seen herds of two and three hundred. The colour of the males from the month of November, till about the end of May, is of a dark brown, * Calcutta Journal Natural History, Vol. II. p. 415.

nearly approaching to black, and their bodies are covered down to the knee-joints with thick shaggy coats, resembling split whalebone, of four to eight inches in length.

"The hair about the neck is very thick, and just like a horse's mane, and the appearance the stag presents when roused, with his shaggy mane standing on end, coupled with the strong smell which at this season proceeds from their bodies, perceptible at 40 and 50 yards distance, is so formidable, that I have known the boldest elephant refuse to approach them. In June the stags commence shedding their horns, and the new ones have nearly attained their full size by the end of November, but are in perfection in February and March; about this time also (June) they change their coats, which lose their whalebone texture, and become of a beautiful glossy chesnut colour, and about half an inch in length. The contour of their peculiarly small heads, and the perfect symmetry of their forms, divested of their long bristly coats, are now fully developed, and at this season they are, in my opinion, the most beautiful and graceful of the Deer species. The height of the full grown stags averages about eleven and a half hands, and that of the does three or four inches less. The colour of the latter is always the same-a bright bay, but more glossy during the rains than at any other time. The principal distinction between the Sungrace and others of the Deer species consists in the peculiar shape of the lower antlers, which, instead of breaking off at an angle where they are set on the head, preserve the continuity of curve downwards, and project over the eyes of the animal, which they nearly hide, their semicircular shape giving the Deer, when at gaze or in motion, the appearance of having too distinct pairs, the one inclining forwards and the other backwards. The generality of the stags have from six to ten branches or snags, but I have killed very old ones, with no less than sixteen clearly defined branches.

"It would be a great object gained, could any live specimens be procured for transmission to Europe, but it would I fear be attended with much difficulty. I have known several instances of the fawns being caught and thriving well for months, but at about a year old, they invariably pined away and died; nor have I known or heard of a single instance of one having arrived at maturity, this too in their native climate; and I therefore think the chances of one surviving a

voyage home but small. I have written to a friend in the valley to send me a complete skeleton of one with the skin &c., and he has kindly promised to do so if he can succeed in procuring one; but says he can hold me out but slender hopes, as the Deer now seem to bear a charmed life, and roam about unpersecuted by anybody."

The next detailed description of this deer was given by Dr. McLelland in 1842,* and I quote his remarks nearly in full.

"Although differing considerably in the form of the horns from any of the Rusa deer, still the general form, the colour, the mane, and the Asiatic habitation of the species, seem to refer it to the Rusa group, of which it forms one of the most unique and striking examples.

"The form of the skull agrees more with that of Cervus hippelaphus than with that of any other species that I can refer it to, but the nasal and intermaxillary bones, as well as the muzzle generally, seem to be somewhat mere prolonged and compressed, and though the face is broad and flat between the eyes, the forehead is compressed, and the head as well as the muzzle narrow, and the profile nearly straight, but with a short prominent ridge commencing on the forehead, and extending between the horns. There are two canine teeth, not much developed, in the upper jaw of both sexes, and the suborbital sinuses are large.

"The horns are large and directed backwards, and obliquely outwards without ascending from the burr: they are then curved gradually upwards and outwards, and terminate in a point directed forward. A single small antler extends obliquely inward from the upper third of the horn; this antler in young individuals appears to form a fork with the summit, but in the adult it is placed about six or seven inches from the top point of the horn, and is more or less developed according to age; in the adult, and particularly in aged individuals, an imperfect nodular spine extends from the base of this antler towards the point of the horn, with several irregular blunt snags arising from it, forming an incomplete kind of crown. The brow antler advances directly forward from the burr, and bending upwards and onwards, terminates in a point which, if prolonged, would meet the summit of the horn, and thus complete an almost perfect circle.

*Calcutta Journ. Nat. Hist., Vol. III. p. 401, Pl. XIII. XIV.

,,A single little snag sometimes shoots out promiscuously from the base of one or other horn, more frequently from that of the brow antler.

"The length of the horn following the curve is three feet, and that of the brow antler twenty inches. The circumference of the horn is five and a half inches, that of the brow antler five inches, and both together form one extended and uniform curve of four feet and seven inches; the horns spreading laterally from each other to a distance of three feet, and then approaching at their bases to an inch or an inch

and a half.

"The body in its general symmetry is light, the limbs slender but strong, the hoofs long, black, and pointed; the head is carried erect; the tail short and conspicuous in the summer dress, but only appearing as a short tuit in the thick winter coat.

"The coat is thick and dense in winter, longer and coarser on the neck than on other parts, forming a thick but undefined mane of straight, harsh, and coarse hair, five or six inches long in the winter, but in summer the mane is more defined. From the withers the hair becomes shorter, diminishing towards the tail, which in summer is thinly clad, though in winter it is covered with a dense clothing of hair, in common with all the upper parts of the body. On the face, the muzzle, the limbs, and the external ears, the hair is short, close, and compact; on the lower surface of the chest it is coarse and short; it is thin, lengthy, and fine on the under-parts of the belly. The inner parts of the thighs and upper and inner parts of the forelegs are also thinly clad.

"The colour changes from yellowish brown in summer to a brownish grey in winter; during summer, brownish grey prevails on the face and neck, becoming yellowish brown on the upper parts of the body, the backs of the ears, and the upper and outer part of the limbs and the muzzle. The belly, the inner parts of the thighs and the forelegs, the under parts of the lower jaw, the hips, the tail, and adjoining parts of the rump, are white in summer, but the rump and upper parts of the tail partake of the colours of the upper parts of the body in winter. The lower parts of the limbs are light grey, the same also prevails irregularly round the eyes, and corners of the mouth and nose, and lengthy tufts of light grey hair cover the inner surface of the ears.'

Mr. Blyth, as noticed above, considers the Cervus dimorphe of Hodgson to be identical with the species under notice; but that the horns of the individuals figured by the latter are abnormal, on account of their being developed in captivity. Had not Mr. Hodgson mentioned, (as quoted hereafter,) that his animal was three years old and the horns perfect, I should have been inclined to have considered it as bearing its first year's horns.

The following information was obtained during a recent visit to Burmah.

Lieut.-Colonel Blake kindly furnished me with the following account: "As regards the exact localities of the Thamyn I can only say where I have found them and where not. As far as I know, they do not occur to the south of Moulmein, but from within a short distance of Thabyoo point, the south-western headland of the Martaban district, to Sittang, bounded to the eastward by the forest line, they are found in large herds.

แ

Again, on the opposite side of the Sittang river, to the south and west of Pegu, they are also found in large numbers. How far they extend in a westerly and northerly direction, from the mouth of the Rangoon river, and in the Bassein district, I do not know, but I have heard that they are common even as high up as Munipore.

"From Pegu to the north they are found in very small parties, the ground not suiting them, until you cross the "Koon" creek or river, the separating boundary between the Martaban and Thoungoo districts, and from this to within a few miles of Thoungoo they occur in large herds.

"Sometimes the plains or open spaces between the Eng* forests will be covered with them, and three or four hundred may be seen at one time. Under these circumstances they are shy and very difficult of approach. Strange to say, that although the ground appears quite as favourable for them, I have never seen a single one to the eastward of the Sittang river north of Sittang. that they are gregarious in their habits. morning and evening, they frequent the jungle is not distant, they retire into it during the heat of the day.

From the above, you will see During the night, and early plains, and where the forest

Dipterocarpus grandifolia, Wallich; Wood oil Tree, Mason's Burmah, edit, 1860, p. 493.