72 WHAT MR. DARWIN SAW. 



PATAGONIA. 



by a thin plaited thong about eight feet long). When sev- 

 eral horsemen appear in a semicircle, the bird becomes con- 

 founded, and does not know which way to escape. They 

 generally prefer running against the wind, yet at the first 

 start they expand their wings, and like a vessel make all sail. 

 On one fine hot day I saw several ostriches enter a bed of tall 

 rushes, where they squatted concealed till quite closely ap- 

 proached. It is not general- 

 ly known that ostriches read- 

 ily take to the water. Mr. 

 King informs me that at 

 the Bay of San Bias, and at 

 Port Valdes, in Patagonia, 

 he saw these birds swim- 

 ming several times from isl- 



o 



and to island. They ran 

 into the water, both when 

 driven down to a point, 

 and likewise of their own 

 accord when not frighten- 

 ed ; the distance crossed was 



SKELETON OF AN OSTRICH. ^^ ^ hundred ^^ 



When swimming, very little of their bodies appears above 

 water; their necks are stretched a little forward, and their 

 progress is slow. On two occasions I saw some ostriches 

 swimming across the Santa Cruz River, where its course was 

 about four hundred yards wide and the stream rapid. Cap- 

 tain Sturt, when descending the Murrumbidgee, in Australia, 

 saw two emus in the act of swimming. 



