OSTRICHES. 



35 



But such prizes are not to be obtained without cost and toil, and it is generally esti- 

 mated that the capture of an ostrich or two must be at the sacrifice of the lives of two 

 horses. So wary is the bird, and so open are the vast plains over which it roams, that 



FIG. 17. Strut/tic camelus, African ostrich. 



no ambuscades or artifices can be employed, and the vulgar resource of dogged perse- 

 verance is the only mode of pursuit. The horses to be employed undergo a long and 

 painful training, abstinence from water and a diet of dry dates being considered the 

 best means for strengthening their wind. The hunters set forth with small skins of 



