664 



THE TROPICAL WORLD. 



agitate tbeir wings and ventilate the delicate plumage, tbe possession of which is soon 

 to prove so fatal to them. No other bird is seen in their company — for no other bird 

 leads a life like theirs ; but the zebra and the antelope are fond of associating with 

 the ostrich, desirous perhaps of benefiting by the sharpness of his eye, which is capable 

 of discerning danger at the utmost verge of the horizon. But in spite of its vigilance, 

 misfortunes are already gathering round the troop, for the Bedouin has spied them 

 out, and encircles them with a ring of his fleetest coursers. In vain the ostrich seeks 

 to escape. One rider drives him along to the next, the circle gradually grows nar- 

 rower and narrower, and, finally, the exhausted bird sinks upon the ground, and 

 receives the death-blow with stoical resignation. But the exertion of a long protracted 

 chase is not always necessary to catch the ostrich ; for before the rainy season, when 

 the heat is at its hight, he is frequently found upon the sand with outstretched wings 

 and open beak, and allows himself to be caught after a short pursuit by a single horse- 

 man, or even by a swift-footed Bushman. 



To surprise the cautious seal the Northern Esquimaux puts on a skin of the animal, 

 and imitating its motions mixes among the unsuspicious herd ; and, in South Africa, 

 we find the Bushman resort to a similar stratagem to outwit the ostrich. He forms a 

 kind of saddle-shaped cushion, and covers it over with feathers, so as to resemble the 

 bird. The head and neck of an ostrich are stuflfed, and a small rod introduced. Pre- 

 paring for the chase, he whitens his black legs with any substance he can procure, 

 places the saddle on his shoulders, takes the bottom part of the neck in his right hand, 

 and his bow and poisoned arrows in his left. Under this mask he mimics the ostrich 

 to perfection, picks away at the verdure, turns his head as if keeping a sharp look-out, 

 shakes his feathers, now walks, and then trots, till he gets within bow-shot, and when 

 the flock runs, from one receiving an arrow, he runs too. Sometimes, however, it 

 happens that some wary old bird suspects the cheat, and endeavors to get near the 

 intruder, who then tries to get out of the way, and to prevent the bird from catching 

 his scent, which would at once break the spell. Should one of the birds happen to 

 get too near in pursuit, he has only to run to windward, or throw off" his saddle, to 

 avoid a stroke from a wing which would lay him prostrate. 



The Bushman frequently has recourse to a much simpler plan. Having discovered 

 the nest of an ostrich, he removes the eggs as the first fruits of conquest, and then, 

 concealing himself in the empty cavity, patiently waits for the return of the bird, 

 which he generally dispatches with one of those poisoned arrows which make incred- 

 ible havoc among the wild herds of the bush or the savannah. According to Dr. Liv- 

 ingstone, the venom most generally employed is the milky juice of the tree-euphorbia, 

 which is particularly hurtful to the equine race. When it is mixed with the water of 

 a pond, a whole herd of zebras will fall dead from the effects of the poison before 

 they have moved away two miles ; while on oxen and men it acts as a drastic purga- 

 tive only. This substance is used all over the country, though in some places the 

 venom of serpents and a certain bulb, Amaryllis toxicaria, are added, in order to 

 increase the virulence. A slender reed only slightly barbed with bone or iron, but 

 imbued with this poison, is sufficient to destroy the most powerful animal. Thus we 

 find the African savage subdues the beasts of the field by similar means to those which 

 are used by the wild nations on the banks of the Orinoco or the Amazon. 



The ostrich generally passses for a very stupid animal, yet to protect its young it 



