THE OSTRICH. 157 



the Arabs catch them in the following manner. They 

 take the skin of an Ostrich, and put it over the head, 

 passing one of the arms through the neck, thus im- 

 itating in appearance one of these birds. Dressed out 

 in this deceptive manner, the hunter goes among the 

 Ostriches, where he is taken by them, for one of their 

 own kind, and he having introduced himself as one of 

 a flock, makes an easy prey of several of these un- 

 suspecting birds. 



But the most common mode of hunting the Ostrich 

 is by means of horses, the swiftest and best of these 

 animals being trained for this sport by the Arabs. 



When an Arab intends to go out on such an expe- 

 dition, he mounts a horse which has been trained to 

 the sport, and proceeds to the hunting ground, and 

 rides slowly and cautiously along until he discovers his 

 game. He does not then begin the chase, and pursue 

 directly after his game, because in that case the bird 

 would take the alarm, and as it can outrun the swiftest 

 horse, would flee to the mountains and be lost. He 

 therefore proceeds slowly, and follows only at a long 

 distance. Meantime the silly bird, not seeing his dan- 

 ger, instead of running in a straight line to a place of 

 safety, goes round in a circle. The hunter now goes 

 round also, and makes a small circle within that made 

 by the bird, riding only so near as to keep his game 

 constantly upon the run. While one hunter is doing 

 this, another hunter will approach from some place 

 which the bird does not expect, and thus make him 

 run across the circle at full speed. In this manner the 

 chase is continued for two or three days. At night, 

 the bird might easily escape, did he foresee that his 



