THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



321 



to the restricted choice from the mammalia class at 

 present available in Europe"; adding thereto some 

 further details which it may be desirable to make 

 known respecting the animal. 



The meat was of a briglit colour and of a close, fine 

 texture, but without any fat mixed with the lean. A 

 good quantity of fat was accumulated round the kid- 

 neys and upon the inside of the libs. After hanging 

 ten days, the joint was simply roasted, with apart of the 

 loin fat or suet, another part of this being made into a 

 suet pudding. The meat, when brought to table and 

 carved, presented the colour of pork. Committee 

 unanimous as to its texture — the finest, closest, most 

 tender and masticable of any meat. In taste, the first 

 impression was of its sweetness and goodness, without 

 any strongly marked speciality of flavour ; it was 

 compared with veal and witli capon j finally, the 

 suggestion that it was {mammalian) meat, with a 

 soujjgon of pheasant flavour, was generally accepted. 



Committee unanimous that a six-year-old eland 

 this was but a young male) would most probably yield 

 a meat equally fine in texture, with a more marked and 

 distinctive flavour; and that the extreme delicacy of 

 flavour might be due to the immaturity of the present 

 animal. The portion of fat served with the joint dif- 

 fered from that of deer in not rapidly condensing into 

 tallow, but retaining, like the best beef fat, its clear, 

 melting character ; it was perfection as fat. Suet pud- 

 ding extremely light and delicate. 



Ten years ago, in an article in Simmond's Colonial 

 Ma<jazine, on the domestication of some of the wild 

 animals of Southern Africa, especial attention was 

 drawn to the eland, as promising beneficial results. 

 This animal was formerly of not uncommon occurrence 

 in the Cape colony, as numerous local appellations 

 testify. It would be superfluous to enter into a de- 

 tailed description of the eland, which has now been so 

 successfully naturalized here. 



Lord Dei-by was the first to secure and introduce it 

 into England, having despatched a party to the in- 

 terior of South Africa, with special directions to attend 

 especially to the capture of the eland. This object 

 was efiected, and three or four young animals arrived 

 safely at Knowsley Park. Since their transfer to the 

 Zoological Society, and their difi'usion over several 

 noblemen's estates, they have thriven well, have be- 

 come as docile as any domestic cattle, and the cows 

 have annually produced and reared their calves. 



The eland, having a very ponderous carcass, with 

 short stout legs, and evidently possessing great strength 

 it has been suggested might be made available for 

 draught in the colonies. It fattens readily on the most 

 meagre heibagc of the desert, and can support drought 

 better than almost any creature except the camel ; asid 

 is found in large herds roaming over the wide yielding 

 sands of the Kalagari desert, the South African Sa- 

 hara, where it subsists for many weeks without water, 

 obtaining a sufficiency of liquid from the succulent 

 shrubs and wild waier-melons which abound in that 

 region. 

 There can hardly be a shadow of a doubt that, had 



this subject beeu attended to in the youthful days of 

 the Cape colony, stout and i)ortly droves of elands 

 might now bo seen grazing over the different farms, or 

 seeking the ni-htly kraal in company with sheep, oxen, 

 and horses, or even drawing the lumbering wain. 



Prior to experience, what animal could seem less 

 fitted for a beast of burthen than the South American 

 lama? While the Australian colonists arc turning 

 their attention to the wool-bearing animals, the alpaca, 

 Angora and Cashmere goats, &c., they certainly should 

 not neglect the food-yielding animals of the kindred 

 climate of southern Africa. Considering how limited 

 is the range and kind of animals native to Australia, 

 the importance of increasing the stock is evident, and 

 especially of those wild animals of the antelope tribe 

 which can find their own sustenance without care or 

 trouble. 



While in former years onr circumnavigating voy- 

 agers were zealous in introducing the useful domestic 

 animals of Europe, the hog, the sheep, the dog, &c., fo 

 the new countries they visited, in later years, with the 

 greater advantages ofiered by commerce and commu- 

 nication, settlers themselves in distant colonies have 

 been far less attentive to this highly important subject. 

 There is, it is true, just now, some prominence {jeing 

 given to the matter, which we trust will not be per- 

 mitted to subside without realizing some beneficial re- 

 sults. A liberal grant has just been made by the 

 Legislature of Victoria for the formation of a zoological 

 collection in that colony; and we presume attention 

 will be directed to the acquisition of useful animals, as 

 well as those merely exhibited for curiosity. We may 

 point to the hartebeest, the ourabi, the rhubok, the 

 bushbok, and many other of the antelope tribe of 

 southern Africa — to some even of tlie goat tribe, espe- 

 cially the Malabar goat, the flesh of which is tender 

 and excellent, contrary to the general nature of the 

 goat, and is in consequence more sought after than any 

 game in Ceylon. These would be especially valuable, 

 and would thrive well in Australia, and in time increase 

 in the deserts and wild parts of that great island- 

 continent. 



The two species of the quagga of Africa have been 

 broken to the saddle and harness : they are docile, and 

 easily tamed. It is a stronger animal than the ass, of 

 more pleasing aspect, and equally hardy. The quagga, 

 though it might improve under domestication, would 

 probably never equal the horse in strength or speed, 

 but it would soon rival the mule, and in all likelihood 

 would propagate itself far more abundantly than either 

 the horse or ass. 



These are some of the animals which most readily 

 suggest themselves to the mind as capable of being do- 

 mesticated, and becoming highly serviceable to man. 

 13ut there are others, doubtless, wliich might be intro- 

 duced into some of our colonies, and would prove use- 

 ful, such as the fine Syrian races of asses, the yak, the 

 camel, the elephant, the joobul, a mule between the 

 yak and the hill breed of cattle in India, the large 

 humped bullocks of India, and others to which we may 

 hereafter advert. 



