Page:Acclimatisation; its eminent adaptation to Australia.djvu/16

14 The hollow-homed ruminants, or antelopes, form one of the three principal divisions into which the ruminants are divided; of the other two, one includes the sheep and goats, and the other the different forms of oxen and their allies. As the two latter have already furnished us with valuable domestic animals, the acclimatisation societies have been directing their attention to the first-named group, to pay a corresponding tribute to domestic economy.

Of sheep and goats we have about twenty wild species, and of the true oxen not more than a dozen, but of the different kinds of antelopes no less than eighty are known to exist, and no doubt many more may yet be found in the unexplored regions of Africa.

An animal, therefore, that every endeavour should be made to acclimatise in this colony is that noble bovine antelope, as it may be termed, the eland (Boselaphusorcas), the largest, heaviest, and altogether the most useful of the tribe. The eland possesses every qualification to make a good domestic animal, it is particularly remarked for its tame and quiet disposition, and as to the question of rearing them it is well known that out of seventeen elands born in the limited space of the Zoological Gardens of London only one has failed to reach maturity.

Of the value of the flesh as food, it is related that "every travelling sportsman in Caffraria agrees upon its fine quality," and a trial made in England in the beginning of 1859, and reported upon in the 'Times by Professor Owen, fully confirms all that they have said; for the eland is no longer exclusively African. "In shape and general aspect," says Captain Harris, "the body of the male eland resembles that of a well-conditioned Guzzerat ox, not unfrequently attaining the height of nineteen hands, and weighing 2000 lbs. The head is strictly that of the antelope (as may he seen in the drawing); light, graceful, and bony, with a pair of magnificent straight horns, about two feet in length, spirally ringed, and pointing backward. The flesh is esteemed by all classes in Africa above that of any other animal; in grain and colour it resembles beef, but is better tasted and more delicate, possessing a true game flavour, and the quantity of fat with which it is interlarded is surprising, greatly exceeding that of any other game quadruped with which we are acquainted. The venison fairly melts in the mouth, and as for the brisket, that is absolutely a cut for a monarch. During the greater part of our journey it was to the flesh of this goodly beast that we principally looked for our daily rations,