358 



AFRICA'S GREATEST BIRD. 



when running at full speed its pace was found to be from eleven to fourteen 

 feet in length. Its speed was so great that it was no more possible to follow 

 the legs than the spokes in a carriage wheel in r^id motion, and Mr. Roose- 

 velt remarked that it must amount to about twenty-six miles an hour, which 

 is somewhat slower than a railroad train. 



The ostrich is kept exclusively on account of its valuable feathers. Its 

 flesh is tough and almost black, and unfit for food. One ostrich egg is large 



PHOTOGRAPH OF AN OSTRICH S NEST. THE DARK SPOTS ARE PATCHES OF SAND. 



enough to supply a full meal for four persons of ordinary appetite, but their 

 taste is not tempting. The feathers could, until lately, only be obtained from 

 the wild bird, which had to be tracked and hunted by natives, for very few 

 Europeans have succeeded in killing him. Consequently the ostrich plumes 

 were very high priced and so much sought for that the bird was threatened 

 with total extermination. In fact, it has become so rare that it is only a 

 question of time when it will have ceased to be a wild animal, and exist only 

 as a domestic or tame one, like the camel. 



Several attempts have been made to train the ostrich so as to render him 

 useful as a carrier of packages and mail between the oases of the deserts, 

 where he is perfectly at home and where his services would be extremely 

 valuable, as he could stand the torrid climate even better than the camel and 



