Duiker

“ When pursued by dogs it darts across from cover to cover with surprising celerity. These authors add that this Antelope emits a nasty musky odour and that its flesh is not particularly good.
How far the Blue Duiker extends beyond the limits of the Cape Colony is, as yet, a matter of considerable uncertainty, these small Duikers, owing to their close similarity, being still in a state of much confusion. According to M. Du Bocage, as recorded in the Zoological Society’s ‘Proceedings’ for 1878, this species is found in Benguela and Loando, far up the west coast. ”

“ The country was harsh and dry and beautiful with the grays and dull greens of arid-land brush, or with the soft atmospheric tints of arid-land distances. Game was fairly common, but rather difficult to find. There were many buffalo, a very few zebra, leopards, hyenas, plenty of impalla, some sing-sing, a few eland, abundant wart-hog, Thompson's gazelle, and duiker. We never lacked for meat when we dared shoot it, but we were after nobler game. The sheep given us by Naiokotuku followed along under charge of the syces.
When we should run quite out of meat, we intended to eat them. ”

“ Writers have noticed three distinct species of the Duiker, but the peculiarities in the horns that have led to this division are so trivial that I should rather feel disposed to place them to the score of age, disease, or accident, few specimens being exactly alike. The animal is extremely common in many parts of the Cape Colony, and on the [208] outskirts of the deep forests which border the sea-coast especially. Here on my return from the interior, I killed several—and found it even more abundant than beyond the boundary. ”

“ In his ‘Reisebilder aus Liberia’ Mr. Büttikofer informs us that the Black Duiker, known to the Liberians under the name of the Bush-Goat, is one of the commonest species of the group in that republic. Like all other members of the genus, it is exclusively an inhabitant of the high forests and bushy woods, coming out at night into the savannahs and plantations to get its food. Mr. Büttikofer repeats his statements as regards the unsavoury character of its flesh, and states that even the natives, who are by no means particular, in many cases refuse to eat it. ”

“ So far as we can tell all these names must refer to the present species, which seems to vary considerably between youth and age.
[182]
Many living specimens of this Duiker have also been received by the Zoological Society of London, besides those mentioned by Mr. Ogilby. Although in nature shy and retiring it does well in captivity, and becomes very tame when petted. It has frequently bred in the Society’s Menagerie, and specimens are registered as having been born there in 1867, 1871, 1872, 1873, and 1874. It is also well known in several of the Zoological Gardens on the Continent. ”

“ Like the rest of the Cape venison, the flesh is utterly destitute of fat, a deficiency which the thrifty Dutch housewife seeks to remedy with her usual skill by calling in the aid of a sheep’s tail. The animal is often to be seen running tame about the farm-houses, but it never ceases, even in a domestic state, to take the note of alarm from the least sound to which it has been unaccustomed—thunder invariably causing it to fly to the nearest shelter in order to hide itself away.”
As regards the Duiker in the Cape Colony at the present time, we are assured by Messrs. ”

“ Method.—Blanch the chicken liver and the liver from the duckling, chop them finely, add the herbs, breadcrumbs, butter melted, a pinch of nutmeg, a good seasoning of salt and pepper, and bind with the yolks of eggs. Stuff the duckling, baste it well with hot butter or fat, and roast in a quick oven for about 1⁄2 an hour, basting frequently. Then drain off every particle of fat, pour the hot brown sauce into the baking-tin, and continue the cooking until the duckling is tender ”

“ Most wild ducks are apt to have the flavor of fish, and when in the hands of inexperienced cooks are sometimes unpalatable on this account. Before roasting them, parboil them with a small peeled carrot put within each duck. This absorbs the unpleasant taste. An onion will have the same effect, but unless you use onions in the stuffing the carrot is preferable. Roast the same as tame duck. Or put into the duck a whole onion peeled, plenty of salt and pepper and a glass of claret, bake in a hot oven twenty minutes. Serve hot with the gravy it yields in cooking and a dish of currant jelly. ”

“ But those little ducklings, who have been waiting all this time in the machine, are getting both hungry and impatient, and require immediate attention. The food which has already been prepared consists of a formula composed of four parts wheat-bran, one part corn-meal with enough of low grade flour to connect the mass without making it sticky or pasty, in fact, it should be crumbly so that the little birds can eat it readily. About five per cent. of fine, sharp grit should be mixed into their first feed, after that, one or two per cent. is all sufficient. ”

“ Set the rind aside. Melt a walnut of butter in the Dish, mix it with half a tablespoon of flour, and stir it till it begins to burn; add a cupful of bouillon, pepper and salt, the squeezed juice of both oranges, and a teaspoon of soft white sugar. Now put in the shredded rinds, boil up for two minutes, and serve with the duck. If you have not time to make this sauce, mix a glass of port wine, a dash of cayenne, and a squeeze of lemon. Slice the breast of the duck and pour this mixture over it. A very useful adjunct to wild duck is a simple orange salad. ”

“ When your Ducks are ready prepar'd for the Fire, rub their Inside with Pepper, Salt, and a little powder of Cloves, a Shallot or two, with a lump of Butter in the Belly of each of them; then lay them in an earthen glazed Pan, that will just hold them, and put three Quarters of a Pound of Butter under and over your Ducks: then pour in a Pint of Vinegar, and as much Water with some Salt, Pepper, some Lemon-Peel, some Cloves whole, a bunch of sweet Herbs, and covering the Pan close, let them stew three or four Hours. Then pass the Liquor through a Sieve, and pour it over your Ducks ”

“ Fill the body and craw of one duck with a seasoning of sage and onion, as for a goose. In case some of the company should have a dislike to onion, fill the other duck with a forcemeat of bread-crumbs, sweet herbs, &c., as for turkey. Place them before a quick fire, but not so near as to scorch. Roast them well, basting them all the time. Skim the fat off, and pour over the ducks their own gravy, mixed with what has been made of the necks, livers, hearts, and gizzards, stewed [279] in a small sauce-pan with some butter dredged with flour. ”

“ Boiled cold oatmeal porridge is the best food for ducklings for the first ten days; afterwards barley-meal, pollard, and oats, with plenty of green food. Never give them hard spring water to drink, but that from a pond. Ducklings are easily reared, soon able to shift for themselves, and to pick up worms, slugs, and insects, and can be cooped together in numbers at night if protected from rats. An old pigsty is an excellent place for a brood of young ducks. ”

“ Ducks are very fond of maize; it certainly brings them on quicker than anything else, and I have had young drakes of the year in full plumage on August 1, when maize has been the only corn used. It is, however, too fattening, I think, and a bit apt to make the birds lazy. I do not believe that birds fed solely on maize fly so well or are as good for the table as those whose diet is composed of a mixture of wheat, barley, and maize. The birds must be encouraged to seek their natural food, as only by this means will the wild duck's flavour be retained. ”

“ Feed on mash composed largely of wheat-bran, low-grade flour and about fifteen per cent. of corn-meal. Mix in plenty of green food, as green rye, clover, corn-fodder, etc. Ten per cent. of ground beef-scrap, or other animal food; five per cent. of coarse sand. This diet is absolutely necessary to properly develop the bird and form flesh, bone and feathers. Feed sparingly. This is essential, as it invites exercise, which is much needed during close confinement in inclement weather.
Question 3.—My ducklings are troubled with sore eyes and do not seem to thrive, what can I do for them? ”

“ About the third day this feed is changed to equal parts of bread, rolled oats, bran and corn meal. After the seventh day the ration may consist of 3 parts bran, 1 part each of low-grade wheat flour and corn meal, 10% green feed, 5% beef scrap with about 3% of sand mixed in.
The ducklings should be fed four times daily after the seventh day until they are two or three weeks old. After that time they need be fed only three times daily, morning, noon and night. The sand may be given to the ducklings either by mixing it in the mash or by feeding it in a hopper where they can help themselves. ”

“ The heads of wild duck are usually left on when cooked. Make a slit in front of the wishbone. Clean the bird; remove entrails, crop and windpipe; draw the head through the neck opening. Truss, sprinkle with salt and pepper inside and outside. Bake in a very hot oven [102] eighteen to twenty minutes, basting with hot water during cooking. If the strong flavor of wild duck is objectionable, cook an onion or an apple in the cavity, removing it before serving.
Serve with the wild duck, fried crescents of rice or hominy and Currant Jelly. ”

“ The duku is another highly-esteemed fruit. The tree is tall, and bears a loose foliage. From its trunk and limbs little branchlets grow out, bearing in long clusters the fruit, which is about the size of a robin’s egg. The outer coating of this fruit is thin and leathery, and of a dull-yellow color. This contains several long seeds, surrounded by a transparent pulp, which is sweet or pleasantly acid. The seeds themselves [91] are intensely bitter. The natives, however, invariably prefer the durian to all other fruits. ”

“ Duck culture now assumes a most important part in the poultry business, and yet, until within a few years, people did not suppose that ducks were fit to eat. But now the public appetite is fast becoming educated to the fact that a nice, crispy, roasted duckling of ten weeks old is not only a dish fit for an epicure, but is far ahead of either turkey, chicken or goose. ”

“ If the ducklings stay too long in the water they will have diarrhœa, in which case coop them close for a few days, and mix bean-meal or oatmeal with their ordinary food.
A troop of ducks will do good service to a kitchen garden in the summer or autumn, when they can do no mischief by devouring delicate salads and young sprouting vegetables. They will search industriously for snails, slugs, woodlice, and millipedes, and gobble them up eagerly, getting positively fat on slugs and snails. Strawberries, of which they are very fond, must be protected from them. ”

“ Braise the duckling with Madeira, and cook it well. Put into a terrine just large enough to hold it; cover with the braising-liquor, strained through a napkin, and combined with enough aspic jelly to completely coat the duckling. Leave to cool.
When about to serve, clear the surface of grease, first by means of a spoon, then with boiling water, and dish on a napkin.
1766—CANETON GLACÉ AUX MANDARINES
Poële the duckling, and let it cool in its liquor.
When it is quite cold, set it on its back; glaze it with aspic jelly, and place it on a low rice or carved-bread cushion lying on a long dish. ”

“ Add pepper and salt, and stuff the bird.
Ducks.
Truss and stuff them with sage and onions as you would a goose. If they are ducklings, roast them from twenty-five to thirty minutes. Epicures say they like them quite under-done, yet, at the same time, very hot. Full-grown ducks should be roasted an hour, and frequently basted. Serve with them the brown giblet gravy or apple-sauce, or both. Green pease should accompany the dish. Many parboil ducks before roasting or baking them. If there is a suspicion of advanced age, parboil them. ”

“ I never felt unsafe on my Dyak friend's back, and he used to laugh when I proposed his setting me down and taking a rest, and say, "You are not as heavy as a basket of durian fruit." These Dyaks have beautiful groves of fruit-trees, and make a good purse in the fruit season by bringing down durians, mangosteen and lansat fruit to sell at Kuching. They also carry all their harvest of paddy up the mountain to their rice-stores in the villages, so they are used to heavy weights. ”

“ Connected with the house for the breeding-stock is a small yard where the ducks are shut in at night through the laying season. From the time when they are twelve hours old till within twenty-four hours of the time when they are killed for market, the ducklings are well fed with a great variety of food. From the first meal until they are turned into the pond lot they are fed every two hours between daylight and dark. ”

“ They should be watched carefully, however, as they are apt, during their antics, to fall over on their backs, when, through suction from the wet and muddy ground, they are seldom able to turn back again. Prompt assistance should be rendered, or it will surely be too late, as the back of a duckling is his most susceptible part. After the birds are six weeks old it will not be necessary to feed more than three times per day, gradually substituting meal for bran, until the birds are eight weeks old, when their food should be, at least, three-quarters meal. ”