110 SOUTH AFRICA. 



I mention this because I once saw a hunter 

 empty the magazine of his -38 Winchester (model 

 1873) in vain on one of these animals, which I 

 had to put out of its misery with a ball from my 

 1 6 smooth-bore while it was still struggling along 

 at a canter with some six bullets in it. 



The ostriches of the Kalliharri are not only 

 numerous, but furnish the finest feathers in the 

 market, most of which are procured by Bastaard 

 and native hunters, who ride them down and knock 

 the whole troop of birds over with sticks, choosing 

 a hot day for the hunt, as the birds are then more 

 or less deficient in staying power. 



Very fast horses are not required to run ostriches 

 to a standstill, as the hunters never attempt closing 

 with the birds till having rattled them along at a 

 good pace the horses begin to get blown, when 

 a halt is made, saddles removed, and the nags 

 refresh themselves with a roll in the -sand, their 

 masters meanwhile enjoying a pipe. The birds, 

 of course, very often disappear, but are also by 

 this time glad to pull up not very far away, and 

 this rest is fatal to them, as in cooling down they 

 get stiff. When the hunters put on the next spurt 

 the horses are soon among them, and the sticks 



