OSTRICH. 
46*4 
/ 
turned his horse, she retreated ten or twelve paces ; 
but as soon as he rode on she pursued him again. 
The eggs of these creatures are considered as a 
great delicacy. The Hottentots, while tending the 
cattle, frequently find their nests in the sands; and 
we are told that those people never use their hands 
to take away the eggs, lest the ostriches should dis- 
cover them by the scent, and quit the nest ; but 
rake them out with a long stick, as fast as the birds 
lay them. One egg is sufficient for several persons, 
and is said to be particularly good when eaten with 
a large quantity of butter. There are various ways 
of dressing them, but that made use of by the Hot- 
tentots is considered the best : it is simply to bury 
them in hot ashes, and through a small hole made 
in the upper end, to stir the contents continually 
round till they acquire the consistence of an omlet. 
When prepared in this manner, Mr. Barrow found 
them an excellent repast in the course of his long 
journeys over the wilds of Africa. Small oval-shaped 
pebbles, about the size of a marrowfat pea, of a pale 
yellow colour and exceeding hard, are sometimes 
found within these eggs. 
The celebrated French traveller Vaillant, during 
his African excursion, sprung an ostrich from her 
nest, and found in it eleven warm eggs, and four 
others at a little distance. His attendants informed 
him that the bird always placed a certain number 
of eggs near the nest, which she never sat upon, 
but designed for nourishment for her young when 
first excluded from the shell. They at the same 
