96 IN BRIGHTEST AFRICA 
to start farther afield I came into an opening in the 
bush that was about thirty yards wide and two hun- 
dred yards long. Near the centre of the opening was 
a dense green bush a dozen feet in diameter. A 
beautiful cock ostrich broke into the clearing at full 
speed just below the bush and as I raised my rifle he 
disappeared behind the bush. I held ready to catch 
him as he passed out from behind it on the other side, 
where there was fifteen or twenty yards of clear 
ground before he would reach cover again. I stood 
there ready with my gun up until I felt foolish. Then 
I ran quickly to the bush expecting to find him just 
on the other side. He was nowhere in sight, but his 
trail told the story. As he had come into the open he 
had seen me and when behind the bush he had stopped 
short, as indicated by a great hole and swirl of sand 
where he had caught himself by one foot, had turned 
at right angles and run straight away the length of 
the clearing, keeping the bush between himself and 
his enemy. Ihave not known many animals to do a 
more clever thing than this. I got one shot at him 
later—putting my sights at three hundred yards— 
but the bullet struck in the sand between his legs. 
We returned to camp later in the afternoon and 
after a little rest and refreshment I started out again 
with only the pony boy and carrying the necessary 
tools to get the head of the wart hog that I had shot 
in the morning. We had no difficulty in finding the 
place where I had shot him, but there was nothing to 
be seen of the pig. The place was strewn with vulture 
features, but surely vultures could not make away 
