20 
FINDING AN OSTRICH'S NEST. 
1 March, 
March \st. We remained at this station till half-past eight in 
the morning, in the hope that Ruiter would join us ; but as we knew 
that he and the Bushman could easily overtake us, we were glad to de- 
part from this miserable lodging. Our good-fortune conducted us by a 
solitary Buffalo-thorn {Buffel doom *) where we found a small pond 
of fresh water. 
Having halted a few minutes to quench our thirst, and allow 
the oxen to drink, we rode forward by the guidance of the compass 
in a southerly direction over a sandy plain of fourteen miles ; in 
which the river twice crossed our course. In some places I observed 
swallows circling in the air, a cheering sight to the thirsty traveller, 
and a sure indication of water being near. 
In our way over the plain, we fell in with an ostrich's nest ; if 
so one may call a bare concavity scratched in the sand, six feet in 
diameter, surrounded by a trench equally shallow, and without the 
smallest trace of any materials, such as grass, leaves, or sticks, to give 
it a resemblance to the nests of other birds. The ostriches to 
which it belonged, must have been at that time feeding at a great 
distance, or we should have seen them on so open a plain. The 
poor birds at their return would find that robbers had visited their 
home in their absence ; for we carried off all their eggs. Within this 
hollow, and quite exposed, lay twenty-five of these gigantic eggs, 
and in the trench nine more, intended, as tlie Hottentots observe; 
as the first food of the twenty-five young ones. Those in the 
hollow, being designed for incubation, may often prove useless to 
the traveller, but the others on the outside will always be found 
fit for eating. In the present instance the whole number were 
equally good. 
The expedient resorted to by Speelman on a former occasion, 
was now adopted to a certain extent : after filling all our bags, the 
sleeves of their watch-coats, and their second pair of trowsers were 
crammed full of eggs. It was considered as an auspicious omen 
• Zixyphus bubaltnus. 
