Secrets of Earth and Sea

by Sir E. Ray Lankester

Leaving that question aside I have a few words to say as to the present attempted "completion" of the picture. My difficulty has been in realizing the suggestion of a free, graceful "bounding" action given by the pair of small hind legs which form all that remains of the smallest of the three deer. I have tried various poses of the calf indicated by these legs—bucking and jumping, and with fore legs closely bent to the horizontal or in a more open position. The fact is there is very little in existing drawings or photographs which can help us to a decision of the problem, "How did the prehistoric artist complete that exquisite little pair of hanging legs?" The problem is more obscure even than that of the pose of the arms of the Venus of Melos. One feels sure that the man who made this carving was an artist who must keep a certain rhythm and flow in the action and form of the three successive animals, and it is clear that he was a wonderful observer of the phases of the limbs in movement. It is, perhaps, a presumptuous thing to attempt on such a basis to recall the thought of a man who died twenty thousand years ago, but I set out to do so with the belief that there is a necessary figure determined by those hind legs.

Some years ago, as a step towards a solution of the problem, I published a "restoration" or "completion" of this picture in the "Field" (May 13th, 1911), and asked for criticisms and suggestions from the readers of that journal. I had no difficulty as to the completion of the biggest stag by drawing in his haunches and hind-legs, but the completion of the head and antlers of the smaller stag—and still more the calling into being of the entire calf as an inference from his or her suspended hind-feet and hoofs alone—were not easy tasks. I consulted many authorities and some instantaneous photographs, but I was not satisfied with the pose I finally suggested for the calf nor with the "points" assigned by my draughtsman to the antlers of the smaller stag. Some interesting suggestions were made in reply to my appeal by readers of the "Field." Those which seemed to me of conclusive weight and value were offered by Mr. Walter Winans, who combines the qualifications of a great observer of big game with those of a great artist. In the restoration now given in Fig. 5 I have profited by Mr. Walter Winans' criticism and have been especially glad to make use of the spirited sketch made by him for my benefit, and published in the "Field" of 1911, of a red-deer calf when hopping along with all the feet together, a movement known as "buck-jumping." "Of course," writes Mr. Winans, "this is quite different to the bronco-pony's action when trying to get rid of a rider. In the case of this kind she does not come down with a jar—but as she lands bends her knees and hocks simultaneously and then straightens them, also simultaneously, bounding in the air with bent back, tail curled tight on back, head thrown back, and ears forward; she never puts her fore-legs, either knee or fetlock, beyond her shoulder in this action." These words of Mr. Winans and his outline sketch of the buck-jumping calf precisely realize what the little hanging legs of the rubbed-out calf had been, as it were, urging my tired brain to recall and visualize. I am convinced that Mr. Winans' sketch gives the completion of the picture as drawn by the artist of the Lortet cavern, and satisfies the demand made by the gracefully suspended limbs shown in the incompletely preserved original. And so I have used it in my final restoration here given in Fig. 5.

The following letter by Mr. Winans, giving valuable comments on the Lortet picture, was published in the "Field," and will assist others in appreciating its significance: it enabled me to get the middle stag's antlers correctly drawn. I have omitted a few lines referring to defects in the original restoration—now corrected.

Sir,—As Sir Ray Lankester asks for criticism of this wonderful drawing of three deer, perhaps the following may be of interest. I have known deer all my life, and lived amongst them the last twelve years. I agree that the picture is wonderful—better than anything Landseer or Rosa Bonheur drew, because these latter were only artists: one can see by their pictures (full of faults as to attitudes and actions) that they knew nothing of deer. For instance, Landseer's stags were much too big in the body and their heads too small, and even the shape of their horns was conventional....

"The Lorthet drawings enable one to know all details about the three deer (looking at the original mutilated 'development'). First, the deer have 'got the wind' of an enemy, have come a long way, and are moving leisurely, the big stag, as usual, bringing up the rear and taking a last look round before the herd goes out of sight. The second is the younger stag who generally accompanies the big stag and acts as his sentinel when he is sleeping, a stag too small to give the big stag any jealousy as to his hinds. The third is undoubtedly a calf (Red deer are 'stags,' 'hinds,' and 'calves,' not 'does' and 'fawns'; the latter terms apply to Fallow deer and Roe-deer).

"The deer are typical Red deer, not Wapiti, except that the only tail showing (that of the middle deer) is the short Wapiti tail, not the longer tail of the Red deer, and the ears are shorter than those of any existing species of deer.

"The horns of the big stag are those of typical park Red deer, exactly like the Warnham Park big stag: brow, bay, and tray, with a bunch on top, and the horns are short and straight for their thickness.

"Now as to the short tail. I am trying, by crossing the Wapiti, Red deer, and Altai to get back to the original deer before the various species got separated, and my 'three-cross' deer show these very characteristics, as follows: Red deer or Warnham horns, short Wapiti tail, and the rather Roman nose which this 'development' print shows. The only difference is the short ears. Is it not possible that, as the artist is able to draw the horns in perspective and show the anatomy and proportions so well, that the ears are meant to be drawn fore-shortened?

"The stag's mouth is open because he is big and fat and is blowing (not roaring or bellowing). If it was the rutting season, when stags roar, the stag would be tucked up in the belly and have a tuft of hair hanging under the middle of it. He and the stag in front are moving in the real action (not the conventional action Rosa Bonheur and Landseer drew, but what the ancient Egyptians drew sometimes) of a slow, easy canter.... Now as to the middle stag's horns. I should give him, bearing in mind he is the small sentry stag, brow, tray, and three on top—a ten-pointer, the thin points showing in the original drawing indicating that he had thin horns—in fact, a three-year old.

"In a Scotch forest a ten-pointer is a comparatively old stag, but at Warnham and my place, where the feeding is good (and in my case there is hand feeding all the year round), a spike stag gets six points and can almost be a royal the next year.