There is, however, little excitement in the pursuit of
that which is harmless, and so our genuine sportsmen go
further afield for their game, and delight, like Nimrod of
old, in hunting the tiger and the wild boar in India, or
the lion, the elephant, the rhinoceros, the panther, and
various species of deer and antelope in Africa. The latter
continent still maintains the pre-eminence which caused
it to be named ' the hunter's paradise,' and those who saw
the great trophy of heads and horns displayed in the Cape
Court at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition must have
been struck with the vast variety of game there represented ;
and more especially they must have wondered at the
number of species of antelopes, from the great eland * to
the tiny little steinbok. The pursuit of these requires
great skill and cunning, for they are all extremely agile, and
easily scared, and frequent for the most part mountainous
regions, very difficult of access.
* It has been proposed to make an attempt to acclimatise this
giant antelope in England and to use it for food, which might, perhaps,
be possible.
GAME AND POULTRY 97
One antelope only remains in a wild state in Europe —
namely, the chamois ; and the hunting of this active little
animal — which most nearly resembles the klip-springer of
the Cape — is attended with a considerable amount of
danger.
Those who would realise the pleasures and dangers of
chamois hunting, must visit their haunts among the wild
peaks of the Tyrolean Alps, and read the tales written by
the Baroness Tautphoeus — ' The Initials ' and ' Quits ' — old
now, but wonderfully true in their descriptions of the country
and the people, and of that wild chamois hunter and his
habits who has been thus described : — ' The true chamois
hunter is a man apart. Gaunt and bony, with " brown and
sinewy knees, scarred and scratched, hair shaggy, dark
piercing eyes, marked eyebrows, a bent eagle nose, and
high, fleshless cheek-bones, with a hungry expression on his
face," to borrow the words of a famous Alpine hunter, the
"Gamsjager" is of a build not to be acquired among the
dwellers of cities.'
Once only have I tasted chamois flesh, and can testify to
its extreme delicacy and excellence, but it rarely falls to the
lot of modern tourists to taste the real article ; the Swiss
serve up goat flesh cunningly prepared to resemble chamois,
but which is no more to be compared with it than is mutton
to venison.
Time was when the only specimen of foreign game which
appeared on English tables was the French partridge, which
has long been naturalised among us, and of which a poet
writes —
' As I was standing by a wood one day,
A little partridge came my way.
98 OUR VIANDS
His slender legs were dainty red,
And in a foreign way he said,
" Ne tirez pas, ne tirez pas !
Je suis Frangais.
Mon Dieu ! ne tirez pas ! "
' Another hand (not mine) then fired; he ft 11,
And, quivering, lay upon the ground.
But, ere the fluttering life had sped,
With little sob he bravely said,
" N'y pensez plus, n'y pens' z plus.
Aliens ! Voyons !
Je meurs Fran9ais.
Adieu ! " '
Our viands
1893Page 45
Presented as published in 1893. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
A modernized reading is not available for this page yet. You are seeing the original text.
There is, however, little excitement in the pursuit of
that which is harmless, and so our genuine sportsmen go
further afield for their game, and delight, like Nimrod of
old, in hunting the tiger and the wild boar in India, or
the lion, the elephant, the rhinoceros, the panther, and
various species of deer and antelope in Africa. The latter
continent still maintains the pre-eminence which caused
it to be named ' the hunter's paradise,' and those who saw
the great trophy of heads and horns displayed in the Cape
Court at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition must have
been struck with the vast variety of game there represented ;
and more especially they must have wondered at the
number of species of antelopes, from the great eland * to
the tiny little steinbok. The pursuit of these requires
great skill and cunning, for they are all extremely agile, and
easily scared, and frequent for the most part mountainous
regions, very difficult of access.
* It has been proposed to make an attempt to acclimatise this
giant antelope in England and to use it for food, which might, perhaps,
be possible.
GAME AND POULTRY 97
One antelope only remains in a wild state in Europe —
namely, the chamois ; and the hunting of this active little
animal — which most nearly resembles the klip-springer of
the Cape — is attended with a considerable amount of
danger.
Those who would realise the pleasures and dangers of
chamois hunting, must visit their haunts among the wild
peaks of the Tyrolean Alps, and read the tales written by
the Baroness Tautphoeus — ' The Initials ' and ' Quits ' — old
now, but wonderfully true in their descriptions of the country
and the people, and of that wild chamois hunter and his
habits who has been thus described : — ' The true chamois
hunter is a man apart. Gaunt and bony, with " brown and
sinewy knees, scarred and scratched, hair shaggy, dark
piercing eyes, marked eyebrows, a bent eagle nose, and
high, fleshless cheek-bones, with a hungry expression on his
face," to borrow the words of a famous Alpine hunter, the
"Gamsjager" is of a build not to be acquired among the
dwellers of cities.'
Once only have I tasted chamois flesh, and can testify to
its extreme delicacy and excellence, but it rarely falls to the
lot of modern tourists to taste the real article ; the Swiss
serve up goat flesh cunningly prepared to resemble chamois,
but which is no more to be compared with it than is mutton
to venison.
Time was when the only specimen of foreign game which
appeared on English tables was the French partridge, which
has long been naturalised among us, and of which a poet
writes —
' As I was standing by a wood one day,
A little partridge came my way.
98 OUR VIANDS
His slender legs were dainty red,
And in a foreign way he said,
" Ne tirez pas, ne tirez pas !
Je suis Frangais.
Mon Dieu ! ne tirez pas ! "
' Another hand (not mine) then fired; he ft 11,
And, quivering, lay upon the ground.
But, ere the fluttering life had sped,
With little sob he bravely said,
" N'y pensez plus, n'y pens' z plus.
Aliens ! Voyons !
Je meurs Fran9ais.
Adieu ! " '