TEE AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



383 



I am surprised that he is in favour of 

 coarse breeds for endurance. It has been 

 clearly proved in the hunting- field no 

 breed can compete with thoroughbreds. 

 My personal expeiieuce, endorsed by men 

 whose opinion is worthy of consideration, 

 admit for hack, journey, and carriage 

 work, the nearer you get to thorough- 

 breds the better they are. 



Mr. Hutchinson condemns all the 

 thoroughbreds that have been imported 

 and have been on our local shows. If he 

 is right, then he is the only judge in the 

 Colony. 



Mr. Hutchinson had charge of a stud 

 in the Transvaal of the breed he so 

 strongly recommends. After a trial, 

 extending over years, he bred one colt- 



he may have bred others that were not 

 known. The said colt developed a lovely 

 ringbone, this was either hereditary or 

 was caused by the very heavy shoes he 

 put on him when a foal, in order to get 

 the knee-action he claims for the breed. 

 This colt foal was exhibited at more than 

 one of our shows. Mr. Hutchinson also 

 claims that the raising of the breed he 

 admiies will pay. May I ask why he 

 could not make it pay for his late em- 

 ployer. It was rumoured at the time his 

 employer sold out, and so cut his loss. 

 Was it that the management was bad ? 



Yours, etc. 



W. Henwood. 

 Rosetta, 12th August, 1901. 



Domestication of tite Eland. 



iINTERVIEW WITH THE GOVERNOR OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA. 



IN the course of an interview with one 

 of our representatives a few weeks 

 ago (says the Murning Herald, Perth, 

 Western Australia), His Excellency the 

 Governo)'. while chatting about sporting 

 and the hunting of big game in Africa, 

 made a special reference to the eland, the 

 , best of all the antelopes. He said that, 

 owing to its special qualities, it was 

 gradually becoming extinct, and steps had 

 to be taken to protect ii from huntsmen. 

 In view of this a Herald representative 

 called at Government House yesterday, in 

 order to get the opinion of Sir Arthur 

 Lawley upon the suggestion which has 

 been made that elands should be oljtained 

 from South Africa, and introduced into 

 the various States, with the object of 

 utilising what are now practically waste 

 scrub lands. 



"Yes, I read the article with great 

 interest," said His Excellency, " but it 

 appears to me that there will be great 

 difficulties in the way of carrying out the 

 suggestion. You know that I told you 

 some weeks ago that elands were becom- 

 mg very scarce, and I believe that there 

 will be very great trouble in getting the 

 animals. 'I'hey are magnificent beasts, 

 often the size of an ordinary bull. In 

 fact, they are so heavy and so fat that 

 they can be ridden down by a man on 

 horseback, and killed. Have you ever 



seen the head or horns of an eland 

 No ? Well, I have photographs of the 

 beasts, and some heads jusi unpacked, 

 and we will have a look at them by-and- 

 bye. Y'ou will then see what fine 

 animals they ai-e. 



" Yes, they are splendid eating. Their 

 hides are of ordinarj' — not special — com- 

 mercial value. But to return to the ques- 

 tion of the importation of eland to^Austra- 

 lia, I do not know yet what your country 

 in the interior is like, but 1 do know that 

 it should do well for eland. The climate 

 also is practically the same as it is in 

 Africa, and the beasts should thrive here. 

 However, I cannot see how the difficulty 

 of supplies will be got over. I know 

 that when I was out there the eland 

 were being protected very carefully. 

 There was a fine of £500 to be inflicted 

 on anyone found killing them. Mr. Cecil 

 Rhodes, at the time of the beginning of 

 the war, became very unpopular, as you 

 know, in South Africa, and some of the 

 people showed their spleen by killing 

 some of his animals, included among 

 which was a fine eland bull. He wanted 

 to replace it, and tried to get another, but 

 could not do so. He had therefore, to 

 send out a party into the interior to catch 

 one for him, and the expedition was out 

 for a long time. The expense, therefore, 

 must have been enormous, and it would 



