Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 06.djvu/85

* DEER. 63 DEER-STALKING. with the Book of Deir, which came from its Cis- tercian monastery, founded about the year 1219 by William Cumyn, Earl of Buchan, on the site of a church established by Saint Columba and his disciple. Saint Drostan, about the year 580. The remains of the monastery are unimportant. In 1715 ilSS. which had belonged to the monks of Deir foimd their way to the universitj' libraiy at Cambridge, but the value of the Book of Deir was not discovered before 1860. It contains a copy of the Gospels { in the Latin version of Saint Jerome) and of the Apostles' Creed, in the hand- writing of the ninth centuiy, with a portion of a Missa de Infirmis, or 'Communion of the Sick' (containing an illuminated Celtic or Gaelic rub- ric), in a later hand. On the blank leaves at the beginning, in the handwriting of the early part of the twelfth century, are notes or memorials, in the Celtic or Gaelic language, recording im- munities and endowments bestowed upon the church of Deir. These notes or memorials are of great' philological interest, as the only known examples of the Celtic speech of Scotland in the twelfth centurv. Consult Stuart (ed.). The Book of Deir (Spalding Club, 1809). DEER'FIELD. A town including ten villages, in Franklin County, JIass., on the Connecticut River, and on the Boston and ilaine, and the New York, New Haven and Hartford railroads (Map: ilassachusetts, B 2). It has agricultural interests, and manufactures of pocketbooks and of fertilizers. The town contains a public librarv, Dickinson High School, and Deerfield Academy. Government is administered liy annual town meet- ings. Population, in 1890, 2910; in 1900, 1969 (part of town annexed to Greenfield in 1890). Deerfield was founded in 1671, and incorpo- rated in 1673. Near by. on September 19, 1075, the Indians caught Captain Lothrop and 84 men in an ambuscade. The latter being reinforced, the Indians were driven off. but the colonists had suffered a loss of 0.3 killed and 7 wounded. On February 29, 1704, the Frencli and Indians sur- prised the place, killing 49 and capturing 100 of the inhabitants, while all the buildings were de- stroyed except the church and one dwelling- house. The captives were taken to Canada, a number being murdered on the way. The sur- vivors were liberated in 1706. Consult: Sheldon, A Uistory of Deerfield, Mass. (Deerfield, 1895- 96) ; and Powell, Historic Toicns of New Eng- land (New York, 1898). DEERFIELD RIVER. A river rising in 'indham County, southern Vermont. It flows south into ilassachusetts, where it bends to the southeast and empties into the Connecticut River near Deerfield. It is about 60 miles long in a general direction, and drains an area of 050 square miles. The stream has a fall of 1028 feet from Eeadsboro, Vt., and furnishes extensive water-power there and at Honsac Tunnel and Shelburne Falls. Its valley is famed for its beauty. DEER-FLY. A gad-fly which attacks deer: especially, in North America, the small green or yellow tabanids of the genus Chrysops. DEERHOUND. See Grethouxd. DEER-MOUSE. Any of .several wild mice, which resemble a deer in colors and movement. The name is most properly applied in North America to the jumping mouse iZapus Hiid- soniiis), but is also given to the white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus). See Mouse and Plate of iliCE .VND Jebboas. DEERSLAYER, The. One of Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales, the first of the series written, but published last (1841). The title is the sobriquet of the leading character. Natty Ijumjijio. DEER-STALKING. To stalk or steal up to game under coer is an attractive sport, with many variations of method in ditterent countries, and even dill'erent parts of the same country; seeing that the deer ranges in North America alone, from the arctic circle of northern Canada to the bayous of the ilexiean Gulf. The term 'stalking' is derived from the Scottish Highland metliod of hunting the deer in the so-called Scot- tish forests, which are not forests at all, but bare hill-tops and rugged glens, upon many of which even a rabbit would find it hard to live, much less a deer. Large tracts of land in Scot- land, barren and otherwise useless, are left to the deer, with profit to the owners, who let the ranges for sporting purposes. The deer are lo- cated by a careful reconnaissance of the district, in which operation woodcraft and litinting skill are the prime essentials. For instance, their probable location will depend itpon the weather; on fine, warm days the big stags will be on the highest hills, and on wet or stormy days they are tisually on the lower land. In the morning they will be feeding and moving, and by mid- day will be Ij'ing down. Mien a suitable stag has been located, the difliiculty will be to get within shooting distance without his seeing, hearing, or smelling the hunter; consequently the direction of the wind is the first considera- tion. Thei'e is practically no chance of success unless the hunter stalks 'up wind,' or across the wind in a position to insure that scent of him will not alarm the deer. Then again, the deer may be feeding, in which ease they will move tip wind at a fairly good rate, and the liunter has to calcul.ate where his path and theirs will cross, by the time he can secretly approach theni. These points determined, he takes a well-screened path, and cautiously approaches the point he has settled on from whieli to get a shot. In the last stretch of this, he may have to crawl up-hill flat on his stomach, pull himself along on his elbows, or he may have to creep doA^ti-hill, feet foremost, for deer seldom look up-hill when feeding. When the deer is again sighted, the problem is to gtiess his distance, concerning which a very successful authority lias laid down the following rules: "LTp to 80 yards, the deer's eye is to be seen distinctly, at 100 yards the shape of the eye is no longer discernible, but only the dark line is visible. Up to 150 yards the ears are plainly to be seen, but at 200 yards they are well-nigh invisible." Prac- tice alone will tell the hmiter how far to 'liold' in front of a walking, running, or galloping deer; but the following instructions are safe: At a walking deer aim straight at the heart; at a slowly trotting one, at the front of the shoulder; when on a quick trot, just see daylight in front of him ; and for a galloping one, give two or three feet grace. The red deer of Scotland vary in weight from 200 to 400 pounds. In -Vmerica the method of stalking varies with the kind of deer and the locality. The method of following the Canadian cariliou and Maine deer through thick forests and dci'p snow of