BLACK OSTRICH. 
427 
they at the outset use the least rashness, the match- 
less speed of the game would immediately carry it 
out of their sight, and in a very short time beyond 
their reach ; but where they proceed gradually it 
makes no particular effort to escape. It does not 
go in a straight line, but runs first to one side and 
then to the other ; this its pursuers take ad- 
vantage of, and by rushing directly onward save 
much ground. In a few days at most, the strength 
of the animal is exhausted, and it then either turns 
on the hunters and fights with the fury of despair, 
or hides its head and tamely submits to its fate. 
Another method of catching them is by a man 
concealing himself in the skin of one of these 
birds, and by that means approaching near enough 
to surprise them. They are often taken alive, as 
they are easily tamed, and may be rendered very 
useful. Their skins are very thick, and are sub- 
stituted for leather by the Arabians : their flesh 
and eggs are esteemed by many an excellent food, 
and their feathers even in this country are very 
valuable, and greatly used for ornament. 
In procuring the eggs from the nest, the natives 
are very careful not to touch any with their hands, 
as the parent birds are sure to discover it upon 
their return, and not only desist from laying any 
more in the same place, but trample to pieces with 
their feet all those that have been left ; therefore 
a long stick is always used to push them out of 
the nest. In the interior of the eggs there are 
often discovered a number of small oval-shaped 
