OSTRICHES. Ill 



roars ; the two first short and staccato, the third very 

 prolonged. Lion-hunters all agree in asserting that the 

 roar of the king of beasts and that of the most foolish 

 of birds are identical in sound ; with this difference 

 only, that the latter, when near, resembles the former 



very far away. T , when hunting in the interior, 



has often been deceived by the sound — expecting a 

 lion, and finding only an ostrich. 



When the birds are savage — quel, as the Dutch call 

 it — they become very aggressive, and it is impossible 

 to walk about the camps unless armed with a weapon 

 of defence called a " tackey." This is simply a long 

 and stout branch of mimosa, with the thorns all left on 

 at the end. It seems but a feeble protection against a 

 foe who, with one stroke of his immensely powerful 

 leg, can easily kill a man ; the kick, no less violent 

 than that of a horse, being rendered infinitely more 

 dangerous by the formidable claw with which the foot 

 is armed. Those, however, who are well practised in 

 the use of the tackey are able, with the coolness of 

 Spanish bull-fighters, to stand and await the charge of 

 the terrible assailant. They allow him to come to 

 what, to the inexperienced eye, seem unpleasantly close 

 quarters ; then, just as he prepares to strike, the tackey 

 is boldly thrust into his face. The thorns oblige him 

 to close his eyes, and he can only run blindly forward ; 

 the bearer of the tackey springing on one side, and 

 gaining time to proceed some distance on his way, be- 

 fore the silly bird has recovered from his bewilderment 

 and makes a fresh charge, when the weapon is again 

 presented. 



