The animal known as the "red deer" in Ceylon is a very different
creature to his splendid namesake in Scotland; he is particularly
unlike a deer in the disproportionate size of his carcase to his
length of leg. He stands about twenty-six inches high at the
shoulder and weighs (live weight) from forty-five to fifty
pounds. He has two sharp tusks in the upper jaw, projecting
about an inch and a half from the gum. These are exactly like
the lower-jaw tusks of a boar, but they incline in the contrary
direction, viz., downward, and they are used as weapons of
defence.
The horns of the red deer seldom exceed eight inches in length,
and have no more than two points upon each antler, formed by a
fork-like termination. This kind of deer has no brow antler.
They are very fast, and excel especially in going up hill, in
which ground they frequently escape from the best grey-hounds.
There is no doubt that the red-deer venison is the best in
Ceylon, but the animal itself is not generally sought after for
sport. He gives a most uninteresting run; never going straight
away like a deer, but doubling about over fifty acres of ground
like a hare, until he is at last run into and killed.
