THE ELAND. 
Oreas canna. 
Plate XXI. 
Of all the Antelopes, which are not less than eighty in number, there is none more imposing from its size, or 
more interesting in an economical point of view, than the Eland, which breeds readily in confinement, and has 
been proved by actual experiment to be perfectly capable of enduring all the vicissitudes of the English 
climate, without more protection than such as is usually bestowed upon valuable cattle. 
Elands bred by the Society are now established by the Yiscount Hill, in Ilawkstone Park, in Shropshire, 
and by the Marquis of Breadalbane, at Taymoutli. Future produce is already applied for in advance by other 
proprietors, and there is every probability that in a few years hence this noble animal will become a permanent 
inhabitant of many other parks in the United Kingdom. 
Elands were first imported into England by the late Earl of Derby, in the year 1840, but an accidental 
circumstance prevented that herd from multiplying to any extent. An old female born at Knowsley in 1846, 
and two males and two females imported in 1850, were bequeathed to the Society, by the late Lord Derby, who 
had been its President for upwards of twenty years, as a memorial of the interest which he had always taken 
in its progress, and of his approval of the successful impulse which had at that time been given to its 
operations. This herd of five individuals was the origin of the Society’s present stock, the following table 
shewing the increase that has taken place from them under the Society’s care;— 
Indivi¬ 
duals. 
Sex. 
Date of Birth. 
Place of Birth. 
Parents. 
A. 
$ 
January, 1850. 
Imported. 
13. 
t 
« // . 
» 
C. 
? 
h // ... 
« 
D. 
9 
n a ............ 
u 
E. 
9 
April 7th, 1846.. 
Knowsley. 
F. 
9 
June 29th, 1853 . 
Society’s Gardens. 
By A out of C. 
G. 
$ 
July 4th, 1853 . 
„ „ 
By A out of D. 
H. 
9 
January 10th, 1854 . 
„ 
By A out of E. 
I. 
9 
July 8th, 1854 . 
By B out of C. 
•T. 
9 
„ „ . 
„ « 
By B out of D. 
K. 
9 
March 3rd, 1855 . 
By B out of E. 
L. 
9 
May 13th, 1855 . 
,, 
By G out of C. 
M. 
9 
June 8th, 1855. 
„ i 
By G out of F. 
N. 
$ 
September 27th, 1855 ... 
By G out of D. 
0. 
9 
March 1st, 1856. 
w * 
By G out of C. 
P. 
$ 
April 10 th, 1856..... 
„ „ 
By G out of F. 
Q. 
9 
May 21st, 1856. 
„ » 
By G out of E. 
B. 
$ 
December 4th, 1856. 
„ „ 
By G out of H. 
S. 
$ 
July 18th, 1857 . 
* « 
By A out of E. 
T. 
9 
May 22nd, 1858 . 
„ « 
By A out of C. 
U. 
9 
August 10th, 1858 . 
„ // 
By A out of E. 
V. 
9 
August 30th, 1859 . 
„ „ 
By A out of O. 
W. 
9 
September 1st, 1860. 
n 
By A out of C. 
The present stock of the Society consists of a male bred by Lord Hill, at Hawkstone, from animals received 
from the Society, of an imported female presented to the Society by Sir George Grey, Governor of the Cape 
Colony, and of the four females (C, U, V, & W,) the latter three born in the Gardens. 
Lord Hill’s herd consists of about seven females and three males, being the produce of three individuals 
received by him from the Society, and the Marquis of Breadalbane has likewise a herd of nearly equal 
extent, originating in the same source. 
It its native country—the interior of the Cape Colony and other neigbouring parts of Southern Africa — 
the Eland or Impoofoo, as it is also called, is celebrated above all its numerous relatives of the same family, 
for the excellence of its flesh; and is consequently the most prized of Antelopes by the sportsman, who trusts 
to his rifle to provide himself with his dinner. We need not wonder therefore at the enthusiasm with 
which the hungry travellers speak on this subject. “Eland meat,” says Sir Cornwallis Harris, “both in grain 
and colour resembles beef, but is far better tasted and more delicate, possessing a pure game flavour, and 
exhibiting the most tempting-looking layer of fat and lean—the surprising quantity of the former ingredient 
with which it is interlarded exceeding that of any other game quadruped with which I am acquainted. The 
venison fairly melts in the mouth, and, as for the brisket, that is absolutely a cut for a monarch! ” 
We cannot do better than repeat what Sir Cornwallis Harris also tells us about the habits of this animal, 
as observed in a state of nature. 
[turn over.] 
