THE CASSOWARY. 303 



than of feathers. 



They are lively birds, 



and frisk and dance 



away when roused, 



when they look very 



like a woolly cushion 



on the top of two 



poles. Like the Os- / 



trich, they are^ettt- 



pid, and like it, also 



run with amazing 



swiftness ; so much 



so, that it is very 



difficult to run them Cassowary 



down, unless by the 



swiftest dogs, and by them only in an open country. They 



defend themselves by kicking with their powerful legs, and 



the blow is quite sufficient to stun a dog, or even at times to 



fracture a man's leg ; accordingly, dogs trained for hunting 



them, always approach the running bird, not immediately in 



its rear, but a little on one side, so as to turn and seize it by 



the body. 



In the Emu of New Holland, there is also a very curious 

 internal bag, or pouch, connected with the windpipe, but 

 having no communication with the other air-cells ; its use is 

 not exactly known, but it has been ingeniously conjectured, 

 that in a country like New Holland, parts of which are par- 

 ticularly exposed to sudden floods, the sandy plains in the 

 interior are inundated, and the Emus in seeking their food 

 amongst, or attempting to escape from these marshes, must 

 be often obliged to have recourse to swimming ; which, con- 

 sidering their weight, would be difficult, were it not for the 

 power of filling this pouch with air, and thus keeping their 

 heads and necks above water. That this is correct we have 

 good reason for believing : for Captain Short, in the account 

 of his recent expedition into the interior of Australia, men- 

 tions the fact of two Emus swimming across the Morum- 

 bidgee, in a part of considerable width and rapidity, which 



