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TUB AORICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



bright in colour, with a vast dewlap. 

 Travellers and sportsmen say that the 

 male eland is unapproachable in the 

 quality of its flesh by any ruminant in 

 South Africa ; that it grows to an enor- 

 mous size, and lays on fat with as great 

 facility as a true shorthorn, while in tex- 

 ture and flavour it is infinitely superior. 

 The lean is remarkably fine, the fat firm 

 and delicate. It was tried in every 

 fashion, braized brisket, roast ribs, broiled 

 steak, filet santi, boiled aitchbone, etc., 

 and in all gave evidence of the fact that 

 a new meat of surpassing value had been 

 added to the products of the English 

 park." These animals there, were left to 

 roam at large and allowed to return to 

 their home at pleasure. I wonder how 

 large. This is truly funny : — " Here, 

 during winter, they are assisted with routs 

 and hay, but in summer they had nothing 

 but the pasture of the park." How 

 funny this is will be understood when 

 we consider its natural food presently. 



From " Chambers' Eucydopoedia ": " It 

 is described by Livingstone as the most 

 magnificent of all the antelopes. It is 

 sometimes called bovine antelope, because 

 it approximates the ox tribe, having a 

 broader muzzle, less slender limbs, and 

 greater bulkiness of form than the ante- 

 lopes in general. It is as large as a horse, 

 fully D feet high. Its tail very much re- 

 sembles that of the ox, and terminates in a 

 tuft of long black hair. It is a gregarious 

 animal and the herds are often large. It is 

 generally very fat and not difficult of 

 pursuit ; its gentleness also increases the 

 facilities of the hunter. Its flesh is very 

 much esteemed, particularly the muscles 

 of the thighs, which are dried like 

 tongues. It is surprising that no attempt 

 has been made to domesticate, for useful 

 i:)urposes, an animal so easy of domesti- 

 cation and possessing so many valuable 

 qualities." 



Dr. Burchell, from whom I am going to 

 quote, is so far a recognised authority that 

 his name has been given to animals, as 

 Zebra Burchelli, in our Museum ; and to 

 plants all through the Flora Capensis, a 

 l)ook, still incomplete, but being issued to 

 the order of the Cai)e Government, by the 

 Koyal Kew Herbarium, to which institu- 

 tion Dr. Burchell presented 135,000 speci- 

 mens of plants, very many new to 

 science. 



Page 311—" Of the meat of a young 

 eland, which happened to be in good 

 case, I made my dinner, and considered it 

 better tasted than the finest beef ; with 

 which in grain and colour it might be 

 compared. It seemed to possess a pure 

 game-like taste, which rendered it both 

 wholesome and easy of digestion. 



" Within the colony this animal is be- 

 coming daily more scarce ; the Boers, as 

 well as the Hottentots, preferring its 

 meat to that of any other antelope, and, 

 therefore, on every occasion hunting it 

 with the greatest eagerness. The principal 

 cause of this preference, and at the same 

 time a very remarkable circumstance, is 

 its being the only one of the antelope 

 genus on which any considerable quantity 

 of fat is ever to be found, no other species 

 yielding a hard fat from which candles 

 may be made. This remark, which pro- 

 bably may be applicable to the whole 

 genus of antelope, and presents another 

 character of distinction between that and 

 cervus,* is offered with certainty in re- 

 spect only to those of Southern Africa, 

 amounting to about twenty-six species, 

 three-and-twenty of which have occasion- 

 ally served me as food in the course of 

 my travels. In the afternoon I observed 

 with telescope cue of the hunters, who 

 was on horseback, following an eland, 

 which was coming towards us. It is a 

 practice, whenever it can be done, to 

 drive their game as near home as possible 

 before it is shot, that they may not have 

 to carry it far. This was the case at 

 present; and the Hottentot drove it on 

 before him with as much ease as he 

 might have driven a cow This poor 

 creature, to which I was indebted for so 

 favourable an opportunity of obtaining, 

 without hurry, a careful and correct 

 drawing of the species, appeared so mild 

 and harmless, and had such gentleness 

 and so much speaking solicitude in its 

 beautiful clear black eye, that I could not 

 witness its fall." (Dr. Burchell never 

 shot anything, but employed huntsmen 

 to find food ; he was of great wealth, 

 travelled for amusement— in the interest 

 of botany, if ar.ything else.) " This ani- 

 mal was a male, measuring in length from 

 the base of the horns to the insertion of 

 the tail 7 ft. 7 in., in height, from the 

 withei-, 5 ft. 10 in., and in circumference 



7 ft. 6 in. 



*Ked Deer. 



