THE OSTRICH. 301 



course of their work, let fall a triangular piece of glass. 

 Xot long after this, the female Ostrich was taken ill, and 

 died in an hour or two, in great agony. The body was 

 opened, and the throat and stomach were found to have been 

 dreadfully lacerated by the sharp corners of the glass, which 

 she had swallowed. From the moment his companion was 

 taken from him, the male had no rest : he appeared to be 

 incessantly searching for something, and gradually wasted 

 away. He was moved from the spot, in the hope that he 

 would forget his grief; he was even allowed more liberty ; 

 but nought availed, and he literally pined away till he 

 died. 



Their swiftness is proverbial ; to run like an Ostrich is, in 

 its own country, the same as to say in ours, to run like a 

 greyhound. When roused from the desert, with their long 

 legs and huge strides, they scour away beyond a horseman's 

 speed, with their short wings expanded to balance them. 

 Vain would be the hope to catch them at first setting off, 

 for, in a few minutes, they are out of sight. The persever- 

 ing hunter, however, keeps on a steady course, sparing his 

 horse, till he can again see his game at a distance, when off 

 it runs once more, and thus, at length, by over-exertion, 

 wears itself out, its joints becoming stiffer after every, run, 

 till finally the horseman approaches near enough to shoot it. 



In Morocco, the Arabs adopt another method. Mounted 

 on swift desert horses, called heiries, they set off in parties of 

 about twenty, riding against the wind, till they meet with 

 the track of an Ostrich, separated themselves at distances of 

 about half a mile apart ; when, as soon as they obtain a view 

 of their game, they spur onwards at full speed. For a time, 

 the bird runs from them against the wind, till, finding its 

 wings an impediment, it turns round and foolishly runs 

 towards them, when every huntsman fires, as opportunity 

 occurs, until they bring it down. 



At Bornou, in the interior of Africa, they adopt a very 

 different method, for which patience instead of speed is 

 required : on finding a nest, a hole is dug, in which the finder 

 buries himself, leaving only his head and arms free, and 



