After hunting four days at the Matturatta Plains, I moved on to
the Elephant Plains, and from thence returned home after twelve
days' absence, having killed twelve elk and two red deer.
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. They exist
in extraordinary numbers throughout every portion of Ceylon, but
are never seen in herds.
Next to the red deer is the still more tiny species, the "mouse
deer." This animal seldom exceeds twelve inches in height, and
has the same characteristic as the red deer in the heavy
proportion of body to its small length of limb. The skin is a
mottled ash-gray, covered with dark spots. The upper jaw is
furnished with sharp tusks similar to the red deer, but the head
is free from horns.
The skull is perfectly unlike the head of a deer, and is closely
allied to the rat, which it would exactly resemble, were it not
for the difference in the teeth. The mouse deer lives
principally upon berries and fruits; but I have seldom found much
herbage upon examination of the paunch. Some people consider the
flesh very good, but my ideas perhaps give it a "ratty" flavor
that makes it unpalatable.
These little deer make for some well-known retreat the moment
that they are disturbed by dogs, and they are usually found after
a short run safely ensconced in a hollow tree.
It is a very singular thing that none of the deer tribe in Ceylon
have more than six points on their horns, viz., three upon each.
These are, the brow-antler point, and the two points which form
the extremity of each horn. I have seen them occasionally with
more, but these were deformities in the antlers.
A stranger is always disappointed in a Ceylon elk's antlers; and
very naturally, for they are quite out of proportion to the great
size of the animal. A very large Scotch red deer in not more
than two-thirds the size of a moderately fine elk, and yet he
carries a head of horns that are infinitely larger.
In fact, so rare are fine antlers in Ceylon that I could not pick
out more than a dozen of really handsome elk horns out of the
great numbers that I have killed.
A handsome pair of antlers is a grand addition to the beauty of a
fine buck, and gives a majesty to his bearing which is greatly
missed when a fine animal breaks cover with only a puny pair of
horns. There is as great a difference in his appearance as there
would be in a life-guardsman in full uniform or in his shirt.
The antlers of the axis, or spotted deer, are generally longer
than those of the elk; they are also more slender and graceful.
Altogether, the spotted deer is about the handsomest of that
beautiful tribe. A fine spotted stag is the perfection of
elegance, color, strength, courage and speed. He has a proud
and thorough-bred way of carrying his head, which is set upon his
neck with a peculiar grace. Nothing can surpass the beauty of
his full black eye. His hide is as sleek as satin - a rich
brown, slightly tinged with red, and spotted as though mottled
with flakes of snow. His weight is about two hundred and fifty
pounds (alive).
It is a difficult thing to judge of a deer's weight with any
great accuracy; but I do not think I am far out in my estimation
of the average, as I once tried the experiment by weighing a dead
elk. I had always considered that a mountain elk, which is
smaller than those of the low country, weighed about four hundred
pounds when cleaned, or five hundred and fifty pounds live
weight. I happened one day to kill an average-sized buck, though
with very small horns, close to the road; so, having cleaned him,
I sent a cart for his carcase on my return home. This elk I
weighed whole, minus his inside, and he was four hundred and
eleven pounds. Many hours had elapsed since his death, so that
the carcase must have lost much weight by drying; this, with the
loss of blood and offal, must have been at least one hundred and
fifty pounds, which would have made his live weight five hundred
and sixty-one pounds.
