The Alaska citizen., 1910-08-22
Where They Eat
 Penguins' Eggs

E Penguins Eggs |
 Lying of the southwestern corner of Cape Colony. and little to the | north of Cape Town, are a group of | islands of which Dassen. Juttcn and | Madagascar Islands are the largest
 and most prominent They appear | nothing more than rocky islets,
 whose jagged rocks projecting above | the level of the sea offer an em- phatiC warning to the navigator not
 to venture too closely. Should the passing vessel approach sufficiently near. the traveller will observe the | islands 10 be crowded with birds, and probably will dismiss them from | his mind with the thought that they are merely the isolated and we'll
 nigh inaccessible strongholds of the sea-fowl clustering on their barren sides.
 Such, however, is far from being | the case. Though the three above
 named islands. which constitute the | largest and most important of the group do not cover in the aggregate
 more than from 20 to 30 acres of ground, yet they are the center of two | fourishing industries. The islands | are the property of the government and their sancity is carefully pre- served. No one is allowed to in trude on their shores without ex press permission. They are as close and on each island is stationed resident official or ranger, for whom comfortable quarters are provided, and who on behalf of his employers
 maintains practically autocratic sway. Though one might probably search in vain for traces of prec- ious metals and gems the existence of which might be suggested by the | thoroughness of the reservation, yet
 they yield two articles of conner cial value which represent satis- factory revenue to the colonial gov ernment. The first of these is gu
 ano, of which huge deposits are to be found on these seagrt rocks;
 the other is penguin eggs.
 The last named industry is be-
 coming of more importance every year. and a decided stimulus has been imparted to the trade by the recent successful introduction of the eggs into Britain. In South Africa the edible pengrin's egg is as com
 mon as the ordinary hens egg, and is favorite addition to the break fast table. In fact owing to it's peculiarly easy dgestibe qualities combined with an appetizing flavor, it is greatly preferred to the small
 CT production of the domestic fowl; while the fact that it is consider | dDly larger feHuerS u SOOu square | meal in itself
 In general appearance the egg resembles somewhat that of the goose to which it also approximates | in size A peculiarity in cooking, however, is that the white or al | bumen never becomes sOlidified and | white as is the case with the hens egg, but preserves it's jelly-like con- sistency of very pale blue color. No matter how long cooking may | be prolonged, it will always retain | this character, although the yolk it. self will become set in the usual | manner. It is owing to this pecu- | liarity that the albumen of the pen guin's egg is so easily digestible and constitutes such a valuable di-
 etetic for invalds. In view of the fact that the bird depends for it's sustenance on fish it might be con- | ceived that the egg will necessarily have a fishy flavor; but such a con clusion would be quite fallacious.