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of this noble animal have been founded at Hawkestone by Viscount Hill, at Taymouth by the Marquis of Breadalbane, and at Tatton by Lord Egerton. Lord Hill, it is stated, was the first to profit by the opportunity offered by the Society, and be has now no less than eight of these animals roaming in his deer park, after having slaughtered a six-year-old male, "Nothing" (observes the writer in the "Edinburgh Review,") "can be more stately than the eland leading out his family along the lovely slopes at Hawkestone, where a great rocky ridge rises in the midst of the park, and stretches nearly through it, affording every variety of shelter. There the pale tawny flanks of the antelope glisten in the morning light, infinitely surpassing the dun deer in colour, while they rival them in grace; their great size makes them immediate objects of attention; their clean small legs, full of power, push them over hill and dale at a tremendous pace, and if an obstacle opposes, their faculty of leaping is almost incredible, compared to their weight."
I hope, therefore, after these remarks, we may at an early day welcome the arrival of the eland in this country. Sir George Grey, whom I met in London, kindly promised, after he had sent some ostriches he had ready, to comply with my request for elands; some difficulty, he observed to me, was experienced in finding a proper opportunity of conveying them from the Cape to this colony; and although Sir George Grey is now at New Zealand, I have no doubt he will still, from his zeal for natural history, exert his influence to procure for us this valuable animal.
The kodoo (strepsiceros kudu), which may be as easily acclimatised as the eland, as an addition to our economical resources is in no way inferior to that animal. It is stated to combine extraordinary quality of flesh with rapid growth, fecundity, and hardiness, in which it is not exceeded by our best shorthorns.
In England the great difficulty in rearing many of these antelopes is their being subject to cold—a contingency to which they will not be exposed in this colony, as it assimilates to their own.
A large number of valuable species of deer from different parts of the world might also he introduced with advantage in the various climates and situations of the extensive Australian continent, for deer spread over all parts of the globe. At one time, it was considered that an exception to this was to be made with respect to Africa, but the discovery of a species in Barbary
