THE CASSOWARY. 
93 
and it was impossible to stop him otherwise than by obstruct- 
ing the passage. This sight pleased M. Adanson so much, 
that he wished it to be repeated ; and to try their strength, 
he directed a full-grown negro to mount the smaller, and 
two others the larger of the birds. This burden did not 
seem at all disproportioned to their strength. At first, they 
went at a tolerably sharp trot ; but when they became heated 
a little, they expanded their wings, as though to catch the 
wind, and moved with such fleetness that they scarcely 
seemed to touch the ground. The foot of the Ostrich has 
only two toes ; one of which is extremely large and strong, 
to make its way through the moving sands of the desert. 
THE CASSOWARY, ( Casuarms galeatus ,) 
Is next in size to the ostrich, but of a different nature. 
His wings are hardly perceptible, being very short, and 
entirely concealed under the plumage. The general tint 
of his feathers is brown, with some spots of vermilion red ; 
his head is small and depressed, with a horny crown ; the 
head and neck are deprived of feathers, and only set with a 
kind of hairy down. From the bill to the claws the body 
measures about five feet and a half ; about the neck are two 
protuberances of a bluish colour, and in shape like the 
