204 THE OSTRICH. ^ 9-12 July 
of discovering a pair at a distance, running across the plain. With 
the telescope they could be seen very distinctly ; and being the first 
I had met with in a wild state, I could not but watch, with the 
greatest gratification, this interesting sight. The bushes intercepted 
the view of their long legs ; but their black bodies were plainly to be 
seen ; and those beautiful plumes, destined, possibly, hereafter to 
decorate the head of some elegant beauty, and wave in the drawing- 
room, were now fluttering in the wind, and rudely hurrying over the 
desert. Their long necks, and comparatively small heads, reared 
high above the shrubs, like two tall stakes, remained the last in 
view; but their hasty long strides soon carried them out of sight. 
As these birds inhabit only large open plains, and their heads, 
elevated above every obstruction, enable them, at a great distance, to 
discover man, from whom they escape with the swiftness of a horse, 
it is not an easy affair to approach them unperceived, or to hunt 
them down ; for, as it is well known, they are utterly incapable of 
raising their bodies into the air. It is fortunate for the race, that this 
difficulty of approach affords some little protection against their 
restless enemy, man. The boors have formerly been so indefatig- 
able in this chace, shooting them at all times of the year, without 
regard to the season of breeding and rearing their young, that there 
are but few now to be found in the inhabited parts of the colony. If 
a law were enacted to prohibit their eggs from being taken or de- 
stroyed, and to prevent the hunting of them during that season, 
or at any other time than that in which their plumes are in per- 
fection, the exportation of their feathers might become a trade of 
much more importance than it is likely ever to be, without some 
such regulations. 
nth. By observations of the meridional altitude of the sun, 
both this and the preceding day, I computed the latitude of Pieter 
Jacobs s to be 33° 24' 2' south. Notwithstanding the greatest care, 
it is not impossible that, into some of these computations, a mistake 
might happen, through inadvertence, to find its way ; and therefore, 
with the view of giving to others an opportunity of verifying my calcu- 
lations, or of correcting my errors, I shall, throughout this journal, 
