THE CASSOWARY. 



467 



vision, till they are able to shift for them- 

 selves. 



On the other hand, Wafer asserts, that he 

 has seen great quantities of this animal's eggs 

 on the desert shores, north of the river Plata; 

 where they were buried in the sand, in order 

 to be hatched by the heat of the climate. 

 Both this, as well as the preceding account, may 

 be doubted ; and it is more probable that it 

 was the crocodile's eggs which Wafer had seen, 

 which are undoubtedly hatched in that manner. 



When the young ones are hatched, they 

 are familiar, and follow the first person they 

 meet. I have been followed myself, says 



Wafer, by many of these young ostriches; 

 which, at first, are extremely harmless and 

 simple : but as they grow older, they become 

 more cunning and distrustful ; and run so 

 swift, that a grayhound can scarcely overtake 

 them. Their flesh, in general, is good to be 

 eaten; especially if they be young. It would 

 be no difficult matter to rear up flocks of 

 these animals tame, particularly as they are 

 naturally so familiar: and they might be 

 found to answer domestic purposes, like the 

 hen or the turkey. Their maintenance could 

 not be expensive, if, as Narborough says, 

 they live entirely upon grass. 



CHAPTER LXX1X. 



THE CASSOWARY. 



THE Cassowary is a bird which was first 

 brought into Europe by the Dutch, from Java, 

 in the East Indies, in which part of the world 

 it is only to be found. Next to the preceding, 

 it is the largest and the heaviest of the feather- 

 ed species. 



The cassowary, though not so large as the 

 former, yet appears more bulky to the eye ; 

 its body being nearly equal, and its neck and 

 legs much thicker and stronger in proportion; 

 this conformation gives it an air of strength 

 and force, which the fierceness and singularity 

 of its countenance conspire to render formi- 

 dable. It is five feet and a half long, from the 

 point of the bill to the extremity of the claws. 

 The legs are two feet and a half high, from 

 the belly to the end of the claws. The head 

 and neck together are a foot and a half; and 

 the largest toe, including the claw, is five in- 

 ches long. The claw alone of the least toe, 

 is three inches and a half in length. The 

 wing is so small, that it does not appear ; it 

 being hid under the feathers of the back. In 

 other birds, a part of the feathers serve for 

 flight, and are different from those that serve 

 for merely covering ; but in the cassowary, 

 all the feathers are of the same kind, and out- 

 wardly of the same colour. They are gene- 

 rally double; having two long shafts, which 



NO. 39 & 40. 



grow out of a short one, which is fixed in the 

 skin. Those that are double, are always of 

 an unequal length ; for some are fourteen 

 inches long, particularly on the rump; while 

 others are not above three. The beards that 

 adorn the stem or shaft, are, from about half 

 way to the end, very long, and as thick as a 

 horse hair, without being subdivided into 

 fibres. The stem or shaft is flat, shining, 

 black, and knotted below; and from each 

 knot there proceeds a beard : likewise the 

 beards at the end of the large feathers are 

 perfectly black ; arid towards the root of a 

 gray tawny colour ; shorter, more soft, and 

 throwing out fine fibres like down ; so that 

 nothing appears except the ends, which are 

 hard and black ; because the other part, 

 composed of down, is quite covered. There 

 are feathers on the head and neck ; but they 

 are so short and thinly sown, that the bird's 

 skin appears naked, except towards the hind- 

 er part of the head, where they are a little 

 longer. The feathers which adorn the rump 

 are extremely thick; but do not differ, in 

 other respects, from the rest, excepting their 

 being longer. The wings, when they are de- 

 prived of their feathers, are but three inches 

 long ; and the feathers are like those on other 

 parts of the bodv. The ends of the wings 

 3Z 



