234 



THE OOLOviUST 





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View of Penguin and Cormorant breeding grounds, 

 on Colonial Islands, Cape Colony, Africa. 



African Penguin Eggs and Gano 

 By E. W. Foster. 



Some one has said that as goes Lon- 

 don, — in tlie matter ot food, — so the 

 world goes; and latterly England, in 

 addition to staid old London, has 

 taken to the egg of the i)enguin, — to 

 sui)i)lant the more ])opular hen-fruit on 

 her tahles. Not that England prefers 

 penguin eggs to the egg of the chick- 

 en, Oh no! but ]>rices are consider- 

 ably cheaiJer, — seeing as there are 

 sections of Cape Colony where one 

 can get all the eggs he desires, for 

 only the picking up. 



Long, long time this section has 

 been renowned for its guano. But now 

 it is realized that it is more profita- 

 ble, yet to gather the eggs of the birds 

 which create this humus. 



The islands belonging to Cape Col- 

 ony and distributed along its coast, as 

 well as along the coast of German 



South West Africa, if needs be recall- 

 ed, are barren and rocky. They bear 

 little vegetation, and are merely rocks 

 where human life can only be sup- 

 ported by ]irovisions from the main 

 land. 



These islands, however, which are 

 divided iiato two groups known as the 

 Colonial Islands on the coast of the 

 Colony, and the Ichaboe Islands on the 

 coast of German South West Africa, 

 are a valuable asset to South Africa, 

 inasmuch as they lu'oduce large quan- 

 tities of guano, penguin eggs, and a 

 considerable number of seal skins, as 

 well as some seal oil. 



The birds i)roducing the guano are 

 the penguin, malagas, and the duiker 

 of cormorant. These live in myriads 

 on the islands, as shown in the ac- 

 companying i)hotographs. 



The collecting and sale of the guano 

 is controlled entirely by the Govern- 



