A CLEAN WSS. 



273 



ever, not a sign of life visible, if I except some of 

 the more industrious nest builders that were at work, 

 repairing or building their pendent homes at the ends 

 of the boughs that hung over the water. Again, 

 however, I heard the noise, but it was further off, 

 and apparently now proceeded from some bush that 

 was just sufficiently high and thick to hide such an 

 intruder as I expected to find. So I slipped on to the 

 dissel-boom, from it to the ground, and made my 

 way as rapidly and unconspicuously as possible for 

 the shelter of a tree that had a large ant-hill sur- 

 rounding its base. From this point of vantage I got 

 a good look round, but nothing animate was in 

 sight that I could distinguish within twenty-five or 

 thirty yards. At length I raised my point of vision 

 higher, when lo ! not a lion, but three ostriches, a cock 

 and two hens, were seen speeding over the open as 

 hard as they could lay their feet to the ground. They 

 were at least one hundred and twenty yards off now, 

 and several limbs and branches intervened, sa as to 

 prevent me shooting. When they traversed thirty 

 yards more, I got a fairish chance, and missed with 

 both barrels. As usual under such circumstances, 

 I blamed the rifle, for I thought that I held dead 

 upon the cock bird each time. Possibly I was 

 right, and as a salve to my wounded feelings, I will 

 still believe that I was, for these light Express bullets 

 are most uncertain even at that distance. Whether 

 it was mine or the gun's fault, I lost at least sixty or 

 seventy pounds* worth of feathers. 



No lion had been near the camp ; it was the cock 

 ostrich I had heard, and I might have known it from 

 the time of day, if 1 had stopped to consider. By a 

 long chalk, however, I am not the first European 

 who has been fooled by this bird, nor doubtless will 

 I be the last, for even a native on this point some- 

 times makes a mistake. This is not the general 

 call of the struthionidce, but only is used in the love- 



