114 OSTRICHES. 



this, the female Ostrich was taken ill, and died, in 

 an hour or t\vo, in great agony. The body was 

 opened, and the throat and stomach were found to 

 hare been dreadfully lacerated by the sharp corners 

 of the glass, which she had swallowed. From the 

 moment his companion was taken from him, the 

 mate had no rest; he appeared to be incessantly 

 searching for something, and gradually wasted away. 

 He was moved from the spot, in the hope that he 

 would forget his grief: he was even allowed more 

 liberty; but nought availed, and he literally pined 

 away till he died. 



Their swiftness is proverbial; to run like an 

 Ostrich is, in its own country, the same as to say in 

 ours, to run like a greyhound. When roused from 

 the desert, with their long legs and huge strides, 

 they scour away beyond a horseman's speed, with 

 their short wings expanded to balance them. Yain 

 would be the hope to catch them at first setting off, 

 for, in a few minutes, they are out of sight. The 

 persevering hunter, however, keeps on a steady 

 course, sparing his horse, till he can again see his 

 game at a distance, when off it runs once more, and 

 thus, at length, by over exertion, wears itself out, its 

 joints becoming stiffer after every run, till finally the 

 horseman approaches near enough to shoot it. 



In Morocco, the Arabs adopt another method. 

 Mounted on swift desert horses, called heiries, they 

 set off in parties of about twenty, riding against the 

 wind, till they meet with the track of an Ostrich, 

 separating themselves at distances of about half a 

 mile apart; when, as soon as they obtain a view of 

 their game, they spur onwards at full speed. For a 



