Cervus campestris.
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.
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.