OSTRICHES A SOURCE OF RICHES. 331 



natural site for a house ; if it had been at home, say on 

 the coast of Devonshire, it would have been worth a lot 

 of money. 



The only game seen were ostriches (//^s^Bechuana), 

 diker and stein buck. The first-mentioned would not 

 allow me to come closer than about 500 yards, yet I fired 

 some shots at them. The short Martini-Henry is not 

 accurate enough for such long ranges. 



I do not think any horse to be found in this part 

 of Africa, even with a feather-weight on its back, could 

 overtake an ostrich. If the ground were smooth and flat 

 as a racecourse at home, and you had for your mount a 

 good plater, doubtlessly you would succeed in such a 

 performance. 



An Irishman once came into the Kalahari and made 

 a great deal of money by the following plan : Having 

 bought up seven or eight of the best saulted horses he 

 could find, he procured an equal number of bush-boys 

 of five or six stone in weight, whom he taught to ride. 

 Thus equipped he started into the desert. An ostrich, 

 in spite of all you can do, will go up-wind, so taking 

 advantage of this he placed relays of horses about six 

 miles apart along the course the birds were certain to 

 take when pursued. To prevent the ostriches deviating 

 to the right or left when they winded the human 

 being hidden in its course, both rider and horse were 

 abundantly smeared with the secretion of some of the 

 wild animals the birds were familiar with. The first lad 

 made running as fast as he could, the second took it up 

 at the same break-neck pace, while the third seldom failed 

 to run into the game. Two or three birds a day were 

 thus frequently killed, and as the feathers of each cock 

 are worth from 40 to 50, the business was a remune- 



