CO537-4802 — Page 27

PENGUIN EGGS FOR BREAKFAST?

SAMPLE CONSIGNMENT FROM TRISTAN DA CUNHA

Penguin eggs from the remote island group of Tristan da Cunha may, one

day, find their way to the British breakfast table. A sample consignment

of 20,000 of the eggs is to be collected, and will be taken to South Africa

in the Tristan Exploration Company's vessel, due to arrive at the island

on September 4.

This South Atlantic island group, consisting of Tristan da Cunha,

Nightingale, Inaccessible, and Gough, lies midway between South Africa and

South America, and is a dependency of St. Helena. Penguin rookeries exist

on both Nightingale and Inaccessible, otherwise uninhabited, and it is from

the latter island that the eggs will be collected. A woman scientist,

Mrs. Rowan, will conduct a survey of the rookeries to establish what egg

harvest may be taken without endangering the future of the bird population.

About the size of a duck egg, with similar flavour, penguin eggs form

a welcome variant in the diet of members of the Falkland Islands Dependencies'

Survey. Penguin flesh too, tastes good; dark brown in colour, it is not

unlike the British pheasant. A favourite Antarctic dish is penguin breast,

fried in butter, and garnished with onions (dehydrated).

COLONIAL OFFICE INFORMATION DEPARTMENT,

Colonial Office,

Sanctuary Buildings,

Great Smith Street,

S.W.1.

Tel. WHI 2366 Exts. 526 and 527.

August 22, 1949.