NATURAL HISTORY. 331 



have doubtless seen the tame ostriches at the Hippodrome, who 

 ran races bearing riders on their backs, and really seemed to 

 enjoy the sport as much as any of the spectators. The inter- 

 esting narrative of Captain Gumming contains some useful re- 

 marks on the habits of the Ostrich, and the method in which it 

 is destroyed by the Bosjesmans. 



" While encamped at this vley we fell in with several nests 

 of ostriches ; and here I first ascertained a singular propensity 

 peculiar to these birds. If a person discovers the nest, and 

 does not at once remove the eggs, on returning he will most 

 probably find them all smashed. This the old birds almost 

 invariably do, even when the intruder has not handled the 

 eggs, or so much as ridden within five yards of them. The 

 nest is merely a hollow scooped in the sandy soil, generally 

 amongst heath or other low bushes ; its diameter is about seven 

 feet ; it is believed that two hens often lay in one nest. The 

 hatching of the eggs is not left, as is generally believed, to 

 the heat of the sun, but, on the contrary, the cock relieves 

 the hen in the incubation. These eggs form a considerable 

 item in the Bushmen's cuisine, and the shells are converted 

 into water flasks, cups, and dishes. I have often seen Bush- 

 girls and Bakalahari women, who belong to the wandering 

 Bechuana tribes of the Kalahari desert, come down to the 

 fountains from their remote habitations, sometimes situated 

 at an amazing distance, each carrying on her back a kaross 

 or a net-work containing from twelve to fifteen ostrich egg- 

 shells, which had been emptied by a small aperture at one 

 end ; these they fill with water and cork up the hole with 



grass. 



A favourite method adopted by the wild Bushman for 

 approaching the Ostrich arid other varieties of game, is to 

 clothe himself in the skin of one of these birds, in which, 

 taking care of the wind, he stalks about the plain, cunningly 

 imitating the gait and motions of the Ostrich, until within 

 range, when, with a well-directed poisoned arrow from his 

 tiny bow, he can generally seal the fate of any of the ordinary 

 varieties of game. These insignificant-looking arrows are 

 about two feet six inches in length ; they consist of a slender 

 reed, with a sharp bone head, thoroughly poisoned with a 

 composition, of which the principal ingredients are obtained 



