THE OSTRICH. 141 



sand, which is thrown up around it, so as to form an ele- 

 vated margin e At some little distance are usually placed, 

 each in a separate cavity in the sand, a number of rejected 

 eggs, which are said to be intended to serve as nutriment 

 for the young brood, as soon as hatched ; a most remark- 

 able instance of foresight, if truly stated, but not yet con- 

 firmed beyond the possibility of doubt. 



The eggs are extremely hard, very weighty, and twenty 

 or thirty times as large as those of our common hen. The 

 color of the shells is a dirty white, tinged with light yel- 

 low. These are frequently formed into cups, and are used 

 in various ways, as ornaments, by the natives of the coun- 

 tries in which they are found. The eggs themselves form, 

 according to Thunberg, an article of considerable com- 

 merce at the Cape, where they are sold to the vessels that 

 touch there, the thickness of theifr shells rendering them 

 preferable for a sea voyage to those of any other bird. 

 They are generally regarded as great luxuries ; but on this 

 point there is some difference of opinion ; M. Sonnini af- 

 firming that, either from habit or from prejudice, he could 

 not bring himself to consider them so good as the eggs to 

 which he had been accustomed ; while M. Cuvier raptu- 

 rously exclaims, that they are not merely to be regarded as 

 delicacies, but are, in fact, "ipsissimae deliciae;" an expres- 

 sive but untranslatable phrase, which we can only render 

 in piebald English, the ne plus ultra of good eating. It 

 is by no means improbable that, in the latter instance, the 

 rarity of the dish conferred upon it a higher relish than its 

 own intrinsic flavor would have warranted ; as was un- 

 doubtedly the case when the dissolute Roman emperor, in 

 Rome's degenerate days, ordered the brains of six hundred 

 Ostriches to be served up to his guests at a single supper. 



The flesh of these birds was among the unclean meats 

 forbidden to the Jews by the Mosaical law. It seems, 

 however, to have been in especial favor with the Romans ; 

 for we read of its being frequently introduced at their ta- 



