EMEU. 



the earliest time that the hand has any power of 

 action, the aim of the spear is very certain, the bird 

 seldom escapes from it if it comes within spear range 

 of the lurking savage. 



Between these enemies the numbers of the birds 

 are very much reduced, and it does not appear that 

 any attempts are made to increase their numbers by 

 domestication in the colony, though they are very 

 easily domesticated. As food, they are not indeed so 

 palatable as many birds of smaller growth. As they 

 are running birds, with no power of wing, the whole 

 of the growth is concentrated upon the posterior part 

 of the body ; and, with the exception of the thighs, 

 there is no part of them that contains any muscle 

 worth eating. When the bird is in good condition, a 

 great quantity of soft fat accumulates upon the rump, 

 and all the hinder part of the body. This fat is of the 

 same rank description as the fat "of a goose, or even 

 more so, and does not increase the value of the bird 

 as an article of food, at least to persons of any delicacy 

 of taste. As is the case with the accumulated fat 

 of almost all birds, it consists wholly or chiefly of 

 elainc, or oily fat, without any admixture of stearine, 

 or crystallisable matter, so that if it were cooked with 

 the flesh of the bird, it would be so rancid as not only 

 to be not edible itself, but to spoil the rest. It is, 

 therefore, removed before the part of the bird which 

 is made use of as food is cooked ; and the quantity is 

 so considerable, that the emeu is often hunted for the 

 sake of its oil, by those who care nothing for the flesh. 

 When the flesh is an object, it is only that on the 

 thighs which is so, for on the rest of the body it is so 

 small in quantity, as not to be worth taking off the 

 bones. Even on the thighs it has none of the deli- 

 cacy of the flesh of ordinary birds, but rather resem- 

 bles beef; and in the old birds it is exceedingly tough, 

 though in the young ones it is more tender, and far 

 from being unpalatable. The flavour of the legs, or 

 rather the thighs of these birds, being that of beef 

 rather than of fowl, is not an uninteresting point in 

 physiology, the more so that there is an approximation 

 to the same thing in other birds. The less that any 

 bird, in the general character of its class in wild 

 nature, is dependent on the wing, and the more that 

 it is dependent on the foot in its economy, the more 

 does its flesh resemble that of the mammalia. Thus 

 in a common fowl, the legs are darker in the colour, 

 and have more the flavour of beef than the wings, or 

 than the muscles on the breast, by which the wings 

 are put in motion. It should seem that the aerial 

 muscle is in all cases less loaded with blood than the 

 ground one ; for the darker hue and the peculiar fla- 

 vour may be, in great part, attributed to the quantity 

 of that fluid contained in the capillary vessels ; and if 

 the ground part of the bird is not hardened by too 

 violent exercise, it is probable that those dark portions 

 that have a relation to walking, would be much more 

 racy and nutritious than the paler ones which are con- 

 nected with the organs of flight. In capons, which 

 have little exercise, the legs are the best parts, and 

 even in common fowls, though they are perhaps not the 

 most in esteem, they are certainly the most juicy and 

 the most wholesome. Nor is there any doubt that in 

 the using of birds as food, every bird is more whole- 

 some in proportion as it is more a ground bird. 



These facts are worthy of some attention, with 

 reference to the emeu. It is a very hardy bird, 

 bearing the climate of Britain very well, and if at- 

 tended to, would, in all probability, be much more 



423 



easily reared than some others of the birds which are 

 bred for domestic use than the turkey for instance. 

 Besides, emeus are by no means chary in their feed- 

 ing. The pastures of New Holland, though extensive, 

 are any thing but rich, the grasses are scarce, the 

 berries are harsh, and few of the roots contain much 

 farinaceous matter ; so that, in a state of nature, the 

 emeu may be said to live upon the very coarsest food 

 food far inferior to that of any sort of poultry in 

 this country so that it might, in all probability, be 

 introduced with advantage as an economical bird. 



Though timid and shy in a state of nature, it is 

 tamed with the greatest ease ; and when tamed, it is 

 exceedingly gentle. Those which the Duke of Devon- 

 shire had at Chiswick, notwithstanding their great 

 size, never showed any symptom of pugnacity, but 

 were mild, and even playful. In the cold weather 

 they amused themselves by dancing ; and in no case 

 did they attempt to make an attack upon any other 

 creature. 



It should seem, therefore, that the emeu is a bird 

 which could be introduced into the farm-yards in this 

 country with great ease, and with no inconsiderable 

 advantage. Nor is there any doubt that if it were 

 subjected to no more exercise than were necessary for 

 the preservation of its health, the flesh would become 

 much more tender, and the bird really be valuable in 

 an economical point of view. But, in these matters, 

 as in all others, the mere economy of pounds, shillings, 

 and pence is not the only economy, any more than 

 mere eating and drinking are the only enjoyments of 

 human life. It is desirable that the farmyard should 

 be a study of information, and a source of intellectual 

 pleasure, as well as a means of profit ; and for this 

 reason the more animals that can be introduced into 

 it, the better must it be for all parties. 



Hitherto emeus have been introduced into this 

 country only as objects of curiosity, without any 

 reference to economical purposes, or even to the 

 means by which their numbers might be most cer- 

 tainly and successfully multiplied. That they will 

 breed in the open air in our climate, is proved by the 

 fact of their actually so breeding at the farm which 

 the Zoological Society of London had between Rich- 



