The Hart and Hind

eat; the ox, the sheep, the goat, the hart, the roe-buck and the fallow-deer." In 1st Kings, 4:23,we read of the daily provision which was made for king Solomon's table, and among the restwere "ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and a hundred sheep, besides harts, androe-bucks, and fallow-deer."

These animals are all harmless, gentle, timid, loving and beautiful; noted for their branchinghorns, for the elegance of their form, and for their surprisingly swift and graceful motion. It haslong been a favorite amusement in eastern countries to pursue them in the chase; and as theswiftest greyhound can scarcely overtake them, it is usual to train hawks or falcons to attackthem, and so delay them till the dogs come up. They bound along over the plains, "fleet as thewind," seeming scarcely to touch the ground: no motion can be more beautiful. In the last verseof Solomon's Song we read, "Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe, or to a younghart on the mountains of spices." The 35th chapter of Isaiah contains a beautiful description ofthe peaceful kingdom which Christ will one day establish in the earth; and among other things itis said, "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped;then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing."

The hart or hind is remarkably sure-footed as well as swift: this may explain one or two verses inthe Bible. David says, 2d Sam. 22:33, 34, "God is my strength and power, and he maketh myway perfect. He maketh my feet like hinds' feet, and setteth me upon my high places." In thelast verse of Habakkuk we read, "The Lord is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds'feet."

The male deer is called a hart, the female a hind; and their affection for each other is beautiful. Solomon says in the Proverbs, "Rejoice with the wife of thy youth; let her be as the loving hindand pleasant roe."

The hart often suffers from thirst in the dry and sandy countries where it lives-especially whenpursued by the hunters; it then longs for water, and plunges with the greatest eagerness into thecooling stream. David says in the 42d Psalm, "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, sopanteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God; when shall Icome and appear before God?" Nothing could more strongly express his love to God, or hisardent desire for communion with him. Happy is the child who has in his heart such feelingstowards God, and who finds pleasure in praying to him, from day to day; he has been taught bythe Holy Spirit, and is preparing to meet God in peace. (See Roe.)

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