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As we shall return to the Big Horn range when treating upon the habits of wapiti and other animals, I shall now refer to the Indian bears, and commence with the most spiteful of the species, Ursus labiatus.
In the rutting season the bucks make other noises, which somewhat resemble the braying of an ass, and are equally disagreeable to listen to. "The wapiti travel about in small herds, rarely exceeding fifty, but often of only six or seven. Where they are not much hunted they are easily approached, but otherwise they are shy enough.
It is found in various parts of India, and especially in the tropical island of Ceylon. Several varieties of it have been described by naturalists. In the Himalaya Mountains there exist two or three species of large deer, not very well-known. One is the Saul Forest Stag, or Bara-singa a species almost as large as the Canadian wapiti.
The antlers of the sika when in the velvet are of greater value to the natives than those of any other species. A good pair of horns in full velvet sometimes sells for as much as $450. The antlers of the wapiti are also of great value to the native druggists, but strangely enough they care little for those of the moose and the roebuck.
It seemed very far away, much farther than it really was, and as I crept to the summit of a ridge a splendid bull wapiti broke through the underbrush. He had been feeding in the bottom of the ravine and saw my head instantly as it appeared above the sky line.
"Very well then: the philosopher can tell us all about them before that." Lucien, thus appealed to, began: "There are few animals that have so many names as this. It is called in different districts, or by different authors, elk, round-horned elk, American elk, stag, red deer, grey moose, le biche, wapiti, and wewaskish.
We saw by his tracks how he lay in ambush watching a herd of elk, how he sneaked up on a mother elk and her recently born calf on the outskirts of the band, and with a great leap threw himself upon the two and killed them. In several places we saw the skins of these little wapiti licked clean and empty of bodily structure. No other male grizzly was permitted to enter his domain.
Four times during the winter did they thus capture intruders, providing themselves with an ample supply of bear's flesh, while the skins would sell well down at the settlements. Otherwise sport was not very good. No more wapiti came up, but black and white tail deer were occasionally shot, and five or six big-horn sheep also fell to their rifles.
Hunting it in Sweden and Norway is a favourite sport, and its flesh is eaten, the nose and tongue being esteemed great delicacies, as they are in America. It is related that elks were formerly used in Sweden to draw the sledge; but, for certain reasons, this was prohibited by law. In point of size, the Wapiti stands next to the elk.
The stag or Wapiti deer is now chiefly confined to the country west of the Mississippi and northward to British America. The moose we shall speak of hereafter. The Rocky Mountain mule deer, and the long-tailed deer of the same locality, are two more species, and there are also the black-tailed deer and the reindeer, the latter of which is a native of British America.
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