FLESH FOOD FROM MAMMALS. 85 



Hottentots seated near me regaled themselves with other 

 parts, which they found no less excellent." 



Opinions seem to differ on this head, for Captain A. 

 Lindley, an African traveller, observes : " I cannot say 

 much in favour of elephant's foot, though it is the bonne 

 bouche of all Kaffirs. The Umzielas cooked it in an oven 

 they made in the ground and then piled up fire on top. 

 In flavour it was more like very soft leather and glue 

 mixed together than anything else that I can compare 

 it to." 



Cuvier remarks that the trunk, being composed of a 

 mixture of delicate muscular fibres and rich fat, would 

 necessarily, when properly prepared, afford an article of 

 food that might be very palatable. Pliny, in his 

 " Natural History," having never perhaps tasted this 

 viand, observes : — " Luxury has discovered even another 

 recommendation in this animal, having found a particu- 

 larly delicate flavour in the cartilaginous part of the 

 trunk, for no other reason, in my belief, than because it 

 fancies itself to be eating ivory." But ivory is ab- 

 solutely frequently eaten now, for the ivory dust col- 

 lected from the ivory turners is sold at about 6d. a 

 pound and makes excellent jellies. 



Sippopoiami — The ivory hunter on the bank of an 

 African river having killed a hippopotamus for the sup- 

 per of his negro attendants, leisurely watches their pro- 

 ceedings in preparing the feast, and observes that the 

 entrails, without being cleansed, are carefully preserved 

 as the choicest morsel, and subsequently cut up and dis- 

 tributed in shares to the party according to rank. 

 When slightly roasted they are devoured with unmis- 

 takable signs of enjoyment. Being disposed, philoso- 

 phically, to inquire into the nature of things, the hunter 

 tries the taste of the extraordinary food, and leaves on 

 record that the savages are certainly not without reason 

 for their preference. 



The flesh of the hippopotamus is much eaten by the 

 natives of Africa, and even by Europeans it is not to be 

 despised, although travellers seem to disagree as to its 



