BUSTARD -SHOOTING. 361 



Our next rencontre was more fortunate. We came upon a 

 party of five in a low grassy patch of ground, and bagged 

 two, one large bird weighing about twenty pounds, and a 

 young one of not half that weight ; the latter, as is often the 

 case, crouched down flat upon the earth upon our approach, 

 thinking to conceal itself in this manner, and, by shutting its 

 eyes to all external danger, avoid being seen in return. We 

 saw great numbers of this noble species of game during the 

 morning, sometimes singly and sometimes in flocks of upwards 

 of twenty, and the result of our sport was seven bustards, 

 weighing altogether near a hundred pounds, and in fat and 

 splendid condition. 



If any one bird deserves to be selected from the long list 

 of feathered delicacies that are found in the four quarters of 

 the globe, as uniting exquisite flavour with unrivalled size, 

 the bustard is undoubtedly alone worthy of the choice. 

 Imagine such a roti as I have often seen on the mess-tables 

 of Ballarat and Creswick Creek, weighing twenty-five pounds 

 without the feathers, plumper than the plumpest turkey, 

 the breast and wings of a rich golden-brown, and the legs 

 and thighs of a snowy whiteness; imagine this, I say, with 

 the addenda of a good gravy, bread sauce, and (a piece of 

 dreadful extravagance, I am sorry to say, I was once a party 

 to) a dozen pounds of preserved Perigord truffles in the 

 interior, and you have a reality before you that neither 

 Heliogabalus or Cambaceres was able to procure; and when 

 it is understood that a large party can dine on the breast 

 alone, without the trouble of any further dissection, it may 

 be well imagined what a .glorious appendage such a bird 

 must make to a bush or camp cuisine. The natives, upon 

 being furnished with a gun, powder, and shot, often bring, 

 them into camp, and dispose of them for a trifle. Their 

 mode of shooting them is well known. They cover them- 

 selves with bushes and the branches of trees, and approach 



