188 SAFARI 



quite useless so far as any nourishment was 

 concerned. 



The natives do not kill ostriches for food. Hunters 

 say that in emergency the heart and liver of an 

 ostrich make excellent eating. But for a regular 

 diet I think they might be compared with the sea gull 

 for which Jack London used to prescribe the following 

 method of cooking: 



* ' You put on a large kettle of water to boil. Pluck 

 the gull carefully, making sure not to injure its feet 

 or bill. When the water boils put the gull in, head 

 down, and let simmer for fifteen minutes. Then 

 throw the water away and repeat the process." 



At this point in the story Jack used to pause 

 impressively, raise an emphatic finger, and go on 

 with every evidence of being very sincere: 



"After having thrown away the third water," he 

 would say, "you then throw away the pot and the 

 gull, and have anything else in the world for supper. 

 Nothing is worse to eat than a sea gull! " 



Except, possibly an ostrich, I should like here to 

 add. 



I know of one case where a native had a tame 

 ostrich that he taught to decoy other ostriches into 

 reach of its master, who then captured the newcomers 

 and stripped them of their plumes. 



Both natives and naturalists have done some 

 ostrich stalking by making an imitation bird which 



