This animal being only known by the vague names of the _hind_ of _Sardinia_, and the _deer_ of the _Ganges_, we have preserved the name given him by Belon, and which he borrowed from Pliny; because, the character of Pliny's axis agrees with this animal, and the name has never been applied to any other; and, therefore, we are not afraid of falling into confusion or error, for a generic denomination, joined to an epithet derived from the climate, is not a name, but a phrase, by which we may confound one animal with others of his genus, as this with the stag, although, perhaps, it is really distinct both in species and climate. The axis (_fig. 144._) is one of the small number of ruminating animals who has horns like the stag. He has the shape and swiftness of the fallow-deer. But what distinguishes him from both is, his having the horns of the former, and figure of the latter; his body is marked with white spots,[H] elegantly disposed, and separated one from another; and lastly, he is a native of warm countries;[I] while the stag and fallow-deer have their coats generally of a uniform colour, and are to be met with in greater numbers in cold and temperate regions than in warm climates. [H] The axis is about the size of the fallow-deer, the ground colour of his body is a greyish yellow beautifully marked with white spots; his belly is white, as is also the under part of his tail, while the upper inclines to red. [I] I never saw, at Senegal, any stag with horns like those in France. _Voyage de le Maire._--There are stags in the peninsula of India, on this side the Ganges, whose bodies are interspersed with white spots. _Voyage de la Compagnie des Indes de Hollande._--There are stags at Bengal spotted like tigers. _Voyage de Luillier._ The gentlemen of the Academy of Sciences have given the figure and description of the interior parts of this animal, but say very little of his exterior form, and nothing with respect to his history. They have only called him the _Sardinian hind_, because, probably, they received that name from the royal menagerie, where there is one of them; but there is no proof of this animal's being a native of Sardinia. No author has mentioned that he exists in that island, as a wild animal; but on the contrary, we see by the passages we have quoted, that he is found in the warmest countries of Asia. Thus the denomination of _Sardinian hind_, has been falsely applied; that of the _Ganges stag_ agrees best, if he really were of the same species as the stag, since that part of India, which the Ganges waters, appears to be his native country. He is also to be met with in Barbary, and, it is probable, that the spotted fallow-deer of the Cape of Good Hope, is the same animal.