A KARROO FARM. 253 



of the Cape Colony. The remnant of wild 

 birds had by 1864 been greatly thinned by 

 remorseless feather hunters, and ostriches were 

 only to be found upon the Great Karroo and 

 in Bushmanland and other remote parts of the 

 Colony, where their young were often reared with 

 extreme difficulty. Shooting parties were periodically 

 got up by our host, and from eight to ten birds were 

 usually accounted for during the hunt. Mr. Evans 

 was one of the first three farmers in the Colony to 

 inaugurate ostrich farming, the others being Mr. 

 Kennear, resident magistrate, of Beaufort West, 

 and Mr. Murray, of Colesberg. 



The first chicks were obtained for him by a Boer, 

 a beiwoner (a sort of sub-farmer on the estate of 

 a richer farmer, who is expected to perform certain 

 duties for the privilege of running his stock) on 

 a neighbouring run. A nest was watched by this 

 Dutchman until the chicks were hatched out ; but 

 when the time came for delivery, the Boer, who had 

 had his suspicions, demanded much more than the 

 agreed price — a trifling one — and obtained £4 ids. 

 for half of the chicks, the rest going to the owner 

 of the land. From these four or five chicks sprang, 

 practically, the gigantic ostrich farming business 

 that now obtains. At first all sorts of erroneous 

 ideas prevailed concerning the new stock. As the 

 birds did not breed for three or four seasons, it was 

 imagined that the pristine wildness and timidity of 

 their nature would prove a bar to their perpetuation 

 while in captivity. Time proved this to be a mistake. 

 Mr. Evans's first ostriches were not confined in 

 camps, but ranged free upon the karroo, returning 

 each night to kraal to be shut up. 



