158 EXPEDITION INTO [Chap. XIX. 



and annoyed, I returned towards the waggons, now 

 eight miles distant, and on my way overtook the 

 Hottentots, who, smoking their pipes with an air of 

 gentlemanly laziness, were leisurely returning, 

 having come to the conclusion that " Sir could not 

 catch the kameel," for which reason they did not 

 think it worth while to follow as I had directed. 



My defeat did not cause me to lose sight of the 

 flesh-pots. Any change from the monotony of an 

 unvaried bread and meat diet being highly agree- 

 able, I went back to the nest of the ostrich with a 

 view of obtaining the eggs. So alarmed were the 

 old birds by my unceremonious intrusion in the morn- 

 ing, that they had not returned. Twenty-three 

 gigantic eggs were laid on the bare ground without 

 either bush or grass to conceal them, or any attempt 

 at a nest beyond a shallow concavity which had 

 been scraped out with the feet. Having broken one, 

 to ascertain if they were worth carrying home, a 

 Hottentot took off his trowsers, in which (the legs 

 being first tied at the lower end,) the eggs were se- 

 curely packed, and placed on the saddle. Although 

 each of these enormous eggs weighs about three 

 pounds, and is equivalent to twenty-four of the 

 domestic fowls', many of our followers could devour 

 two at a single meal, first mixing the contents, and 

 then broiling them in the shell. When dressed in 

 more orthodox manner, we found them a highly 

 palatable omelette. 



Richardson shortly returned, having been en- 

 gaged in deadly conflict with a rhinoceros. Aroused 



