THE GNU. (Antilope Gnu.)
This very singular animal is sometimes called a horned horse; as it has the shape and mane of a horse, with the addition of a formidable pair of horns, a kind of beard below the chin, and a fringe of hair below the body, along the breastbone. The Gnus live together in herds, and when alarmed, fling up their heels, and plunge and rear, tossing their heads and tails, before they gallop off; which they do, the whole herd following their leader singly, like a troop of soldiers. The Gnu inhabits the sandy deserts of South Africa; and its flesh, which is said to resemble beef, is sometimes eaten by the colonists near the Cape of Good Hope. When caught young the Gnu may be tamed, but its disposition is always uncertain, and when offended it throws itself on its knees, like the nyl ghau, and then springing up, butts furiously with its horns.
THE STAG. (Cervus Elaphus.)
This animal is the male of the red Deer, and is generally famed for long life, though upon no certain authority. Naturalists agree, however, upon this point, that his life may exceed forty years: but that his existence, as it has been asserted, reaches to three centuries, is too absurd to be believed. His horns are at first very small, but gradually increase in size, as they are yearly shed and renewed, till the stag has completed his fifth year, when they become very large and branching, and remain so during the remainder of his life. The Stag is one of the tallest of the deer kind, and is called a Hart after he has completed his fifth year; the female, called the Hind, is without horns. Every year, in the month of April, when the Stag has lost his horns, he appears conscious of his temporary weakness, and hides himself till his new ones have grown and are hardened. This is generally in about ten weeks, even when the Stag is full grown; his horns at this age weigh between twenty and thirty pounds. Little need be said of the pleasure taken in hunting the Stag, the Hart, and the Roebuck, it being a matter well known in this country, and in all parts of Europe. The following fact, recorded in history, will serve to show that the Stag is possessed of an extraordinary share of courage, when his personal safety is concerned:—In the reign of George the Second, William, Duke of Cumberland, caused a tiger and a Stag to be enclosed in the same area; and the Stag made so bold a defence, that the tiger was at length obliged to give up. The flesh of the Stag is accounted excellent food, and his horns are useful to cutlers; even their shavings are used to make ammonia, so much esteemed in medicine under the name of hartshorn. The swiftness of the Stag has become proverbial, and the diversion of hunting this creature has, for ages, been looked upon as a royal amusement. In the time of William Rufus and Henry the First, it was less criminal to destroy a human being than a full-grown Stag. This animal, when fatigued in the chase, often throws himself into a pond of water, or crosses a river; and, when caught, sheds tears like a child.