THE DOMESTICATION OF WILD ANIMALS 47 



especially where the ground is hilly or rocky ; and their 

 flesh is said to be highly palatable, while their skins are 

 used both in the manufacture of gloves and as furs, although 

 neither of these two latter considerations are likely to be 

 of any importance in England. On an estate in Prussia 

 a drove of the large kangaroo was kept in a condition of 

 almost complete liberty in 1890; and at the present time 

 various species of both kangaroos and wallabies are flourish- 

 ing on the estates of the Duke of Bedford, Lord 

 Rothschild, and Sir Edmund Loder. According, however, 

 to information furnished to the writer by the owner of 

 some tame wallabies, it is inadvisable to keep these animals 

 in a small enclosure where there is any considerable extent 

 of deep water occupying the line of country they are likely 

 to take when frightened. Otherwise they are prone, when 

 disturbed, to plunge headlong into the water, where not 

 only will the adults stand a good chance of being drowned, 

 but the helpless young in the pouches of the females must 

 of necessity perish miserably. 



As the result of all that has been written on the subject, 

 it may be gathered that, with the exception of the domesti- 

 cation of the elephant and zebras in Africa (if this be 

 found practicable), the acclimatisation of animals is unlikely 

 to yield profitable results of any importance, at any rate in 

 England ; but that as a means of largely increasing the 

 number of species of herbivorous animals kept in a wild 

 or semi-domesticated state in parks and enclosures, it has 

 an important future ; and it may also prove to be the 

 means of saving some of the most beautiful species from 

 the fate of impending extermination which threatens not a 

 few. In the case of persons of comparatively small means, 

 Dr. Trouessart recommends that they confine their efforts 

 to acclimatising a single species. 



