SPEED OF THE OSTRICH. 503 



which they bury in spots known to themselves alone. The tiny but resolute little warriors 

 start off on their expedition, get among the dwellings of their foes, carry off as many cattle as 

 they can manage, shoot the rest with poisoned arrows, and then retiring over the burning 

 desert are able to subsist upon their concealed water stores, while their enemies are totally 

 unable to follow them. 



After removing the eggs from the nest, the approved method of carrying them is to take 

 off the "crackers" or leather trousers, tie up the ankles firmly, fill the garment with eggs, 

 and set it astride the shoulders if the captor be a pedestrian, or in front of the saddle should 

 he be on horseback. The shells are so strong that they are able to bear this rather curious 

 mode of conveyance without damage, provided that no extreme jolting take place. A frisky 

 horse will, however, sometimes smash the whole cargo, with disastrous consequences to him- 

 self and the vessel in which they were carried. 



Among the Fellatahs, an Ostrich egg on the top of a pole fixed to the roof of the hut is 

 the emblem of royalty. The Copts call it the emblem of watchfulness, and carry out the idea 

 by making the empty shell defend their church lamps from the rats, which crawl down the 

 cords by which the lamps are suspended, and driuk the oil. Their plan is to run the cord 

 through an Ostrich shell, which is placed at some little distance above the lamp, and, by its 

 smooth polished surface, forms an impassable barrier even to rats. 



The feathers are too well known to need description. On an average, each feather is 

 worth about a shilling. The best time for obtaining them is in the months of March and 

 April. The greater number are furnished by means of the poisoned arrow, the native hunter 

 scraping a hole in the sand near the nest, and lying concealed there until the birds come to 

 their eggs, when a few rapid discharges will kill as many birds. Sometimes the hunter 

 envelops himself in the skin of an Ostrich, his natural legs doing duty for those of the bird, 

 and his arm managing the head and neck in such a way as to simulate the movements of 

 the bird when feeding an imitation so admirably managed that at a short distance it is 

 impossible to distinguish the sham bird from the true. The enterprising little hunter is 

 thus enabled to get among a flock of Ostriches, and to shoot one after the other with great 

 ease, the birds not being able to understand the reason why their comrades should suddenly 

 run away and then lie down, and permitting their enemy to follow them up until they share 

 the same fate. 



In some tribes each Ostrich feather worn on the head is an emblem of an enemy slain 

 in battle. 



The flesh of the Ostrich is tolerably good, and is said to resemble that of the zebra. It 

 is, however, only the young Ostrich that furnishes a good entertainment, for the flesh of the 

 old bird is rank and tough. The fat is highly valued, and when melted is of a bright orange 

 color. It is mostly eaten with millet flour, and is also stirred into the eggs while roasting, so 

 as to make a rude but well-flavored omelet. 



Those who are fond of hunting, employ a more sportsman-like though less profitable mode 

 of procuring this bird. Mounted on swift horses, they give fair chase to the nimble-footed 

 bird, and generally manage to secure it by sending one of their number to head it on its 

 course, and shooting it as it dashes by. The speed of the Ostrich is very great, though hardly 

 so considerable as has been supposed. Some writers set it down as running sixty miles per 

 hour, while others only give it half that rate. When going at full speed, its legs move so 

 rapidly that they hardly seem to touch the ground ; and as the pace of a running adult 

 Ostrich is from ten to fourteen feet in length, its exceeding swiftness may be imagined. 



For a short distance, the speed of the Ostrich is perhaps quite as great as the higher of 

 the above statements ; but it seldom keeps up that astonishing rate of going for more than 

 half a mile, and then settles down into a more steady rate of progress. Being a long- 

 winded bird, it would tire out most horses, did not it always run in curves, so that the 

 horseman by taking a direct course saves much ground, and is able to get a shot as the huge 

 bird comes dashing by him. The reader will be better enabled to understand the great 

 powers of the bird and the curious modifications of its structure better by referring to a 

 skeleton of the bird, than by many pages of description. The long and powerful legs, with 



