TSE AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



S7l 



Africa is really excellent, that of the 

 koodoo, the oryx, and the eland being 

 the best. Perhaps the highest and most 

 modern authority available for quotation 

 on the subject is Lord Randolph (Jhurchill, 

 who ' made an excellent supper ofiE stewed 

 roan antelope ' on the eve of his en- 

 counter with the lion. His Lordship's 

 verdict on the eland, the flesh of which is 

 said to surpass that of all other antelopesas 

 much as Welsh mutton does Lincolnshire 

 ' teg,' will be of material interest to the 

 present enquiry. Less educated palates 

 have pronounced it ' peculiarly excellent,' 

 having in addition the valuable property 

 of being tender immediately after the 

 animal is killed, which makes it much 

 appreciated in Central Africa, where the 

 meat is usually as tough as shoe leather 

 and nearly as dry. In addition to the 

 quality of the meat, the eland has the 

 additional requisite of large si/e. A full 

 grown eland is as large as a two-yeai--old 

 shorthorn, and has far more the appear- 

 ance of a high-bred bullock than aa 

 antelope. Its horns are short and straight, 

 pointing backwards, and it has a dewlap 

 like an ox. It can live on the hardest faiv, 

 and soon grows very fat on good pasture. 

 But best of all it becomes quite tame, and 

 is easily acclimatised. The writer re- 

 members to have seen a splendid group 

 of these fine animals in the Jardin 

 d'Acclimatation in the Bois de Boulogne, 

 an old bull nearly sixteen hands high, a 

 cow, and two young — apparently a year- 

 ling and a two year-old. They were in 

 good condition though living in a paddock 

 with only an open shed to shelter them 

 froni the weather. The late Lord Derby 

 kept them at Knowsley Park foj- many 

 years. It seems to be a waste of the 

 resources of nature to allow these fine 

 creatures to be exterminated as they soon 

 will be in our new South African Empire. 

 The argument that Ijecause the South 

 African natives have not tamed them we 

 should not attempt it is of little force. 

 The African keeps cows to give milk ; 

 meat was supplied in inexhaustible 

 quantities by the wild antelopes until 

 the white man came with guns, and with 

 far less trouble than domesticated animals 

 give. We are far too apt to forget that 

 England owes the best of her trees, vege- 

 tables and animals to othei- countries. 

 All are now so good that we are prone to 



think that they can neither be added to 

 nor improved. Perhaps Admiral Rous 

 was right when he declared that it ma le 

 him 'simply sick' when an ' Arab cross' 

 was suggested as a m^-ans of improving 

 our thoroughbreds. But wdiy should we 

 not save the eland, the harness antelope, 

 the koodoo, and other large Atricm ante- 

 lopes from extermination, and even try 

 to rear some in England ? The experi- 

 ence maj' be recommended to some of 

 the noble owners of: parks and chases 

 who have already done much to preserve 

 our own deer and wild cattle from exter- 

 mination. America his allowed the 

 bison to perish, shill we not take warn- 

 ing and preserve for our own usj the 

 splendid African antelopes which within 

 the memory of man were a thousand 

 times more numerous than they are to- 

 day ? " 



The foregoing shadows a demand for a 

 new meat in Europe. The Ameiicans 

 have established an industry, menfcinnetl 

 in the Scientific Aimi'icDi, on the Island 

 of Los Angelos, California, for the whole- 

 sale cultivation of a hybrid called the 

 Belgian hare (^rabbit and hare), which 

 finds a ready and profitable sale. Tliis is 

 a very small matter, but the only one 

 civilization can claim ; there is nothing 

 but beef and mutton and pork. So let us 

 enquire al)0ut the eland and see if it is fit 

 for Australia, anel if it can fall to our lot 

 to supply a new meat to Europe and 

 America. 



In Africa the newly-l)orn calf is the 

 fair prey of the lions, the hj'aeaas, and 

 the hunting dogs ; all absent in Austniliii 

 (or only represented by the less harmful 

 dingo). This cause will account for the 

 "it is said," which is from hunting boo s, 

 arising from the remark that in herds 

 only some of the females had calves at 

 foot, but which statement is confcradicte I 

 by the average of increase in Mr. 

 Booysen's herd. An animal which 

 matures in eighteen months would cer- 

 tainly breed annually. 



From " Beeton's Book of Household 

 Management" we gather the following : 

 — " Viscount Hill, at Hawkestone Park, 

 Salop, killed one from his park for the 

 table. He weighed l,17t) lb. as he 

 dropped ; huge as a shorthorn, but with 

 bone not half the size ; perfect in form, 



