230 NATURAL HISTORY. 



Ostrich, and the bird is said to be capable of bearing a full-grown man. The writer has himself seen 

 a light kind of carriage drawn by an Ostrich, in the Jardin des Plantes, at Paris. Although this 

 purpose is not likely to come into vogue in the present day, the demand for food may bring Ostrich 

 flesh into use, as it is said to be good eating, while the eggs are of the bulk of twenty-four common 

 hens' eggs, and an omelette is pronounced by travellers to be very palatable. 



When, in 1876, Mr. de Mosenthal wrote his report, Ostrich feathers, to the value of more than 

 600,000, were exported from Africa, and they were classified under thirty different headings 

 according to their colour, size, and weight.* The largest exportation comes by way of Egypt, which 

 contributed nearly half of the above amount ; the Cape followed closely, Barbary came next with 

 one-sixth of the whole sum, Mogaclor with a value of 20,000, and lastly Senegal, with a value of 

 3,000 only. The finest feathers are those received from Aleppo ; they come from the Syrian desert, 

 and are the most perfect in plumage, breadth, grace, and colour, but are very rare. The feathers from 

 the Cape are as white as the Aleppo ones, but are much inferior in quality, and are surpassed by those 

 of Barbary, Senegal, Egypt, and Mogador, whilst the most inferior are the plumes from Yemen, in 

 Arabia, which are described as very thin and poor. The Cape seems to afford the best artificial breed- 

 ing grounds, but in Algeria Ostrich-farming is being attended with success ; while, so far, the attempts 

 made in Australia have not turned out very productive. Mr. de Mosenthal's book contains an 

 interesting account giving by Mr. Hillier of u farm kept by Mr. Douglas, at Hilton, near Graham's 

 Town, South Africa, and from it we make the following extract : 



" After breakfast we began, on foot at first, to make our round of the various Ostrich 

 troops and flocks, scattered or located as they are over a farm of some 3,000 morgen (6,000 acres) ; 

 and as we shall require the aid of the artificial memory afforded by the recollection of the way we 

 went, we will tell our story in that order, beginning where we began, with the first flock of the 

 year's chickens we came to. The first chickens of this year were hatched in the early part of 

 the month of August, and these, with others hatched during the following month or six weeks, 

 now run together, and form a flock of forty-four fine healthy growing birds. Some of them are 

 very large for their age, and all are remarkably lively and in good condition. It was very 

 amusing to see how they gathered round the coloured boy who looked after them. They ran 

 away to him if startled in any way, and came eagerly at his call. 



" It was evident that their instincts had accepted him in the place of their original parents. These 

 birds are now housed every night, and though this will no doubt be prudent for some time to come, 

 on account of storms, yet some of the oldest look quite able to take care of themselves. In fact, were 

 they with the parent birds, they could not be gathered, many of them, under their wings, or otherwise 

 much defended from the cold. This group of young birds ar-e kept in the home field, and, we believe, 

 occasionally get a little lucerne. The condition and health of this flock of birds are most satisfactory. 

 It proves most triumphantly that Ostriches hatched by machine, when the operation is properly 

 conducted, are equally healthy with those that come into the world by the old-established and 

 ordinary process ; and that the same set of conditions must have been complied with, and the various 

 necessary manipulations which instinct teaches the old birds to perform must have been successfully 

 imitated, in artificial incubation. We think Mr. Douglas told us he had lost but one since they were 

 hatched, and this by accident. The next troop of this year's birds is a flock of sixteen. They looked 

 to us about a month old, but we were not told their age. These, too, looked exceedingly healthy. A 

 boy was in attendance, and will continue so a little longer, till they are strong enough to join their 

 little brothers and sisters. This little family is carefully housed every night in a warm covered stable. 

 We forgot to say that the older flock are put in a kind of kraal within the shed, into which they can 

 run when it rains. By this plan they get gradually accustomed to sleep out at night. The next flock 

 we saw was the baby flock of fourteen, some of which were only a day or two old, while some were a 

 week or ten days. These were exceedingly pretty little things, like giant young partridges, but with 

 the special peculiarity of having little bristles all over them mixed with their down. They were 

 very lively, and gathered round their guardian, and were some of them fed with a little cut 

 lucerne. We were told that for the day or two after their birth they do not eat, but seem 



* Since then the value has fluctuated to an extraordinary degree, according, presumably, to the dictates of fashion. 



