46 
situation —the sun’s rays pouring perpendicularly upon his bald pate, but he appearing most enviably regardless of the heats 
drought, and desolation that surround him, I have already elsewhere remarked, that amidst the vast assemblage of wild beasts 
frequently found congregated in the vicinity of water, a knot of stately Ostriches bedizened with their showy plumes, sometimes 
enact the part of General officers and staff with such grave propriety, as almost to impress the spectator with a belief that 
he is witnessing a review on Hounslow Heath. But of the many wild scenes exhibited by Dame Nature on her African theatre, 
there is none wilder—no, not one more engrossing, than a fleet of these giant birds crowding all sail, their towering masts 
raking gallantly, with every stitch of canvas bellying to the breeze, as, like ships on the desert, they are bearing down for 
some particular point in the ocean-like expanse, that has been previously determined by their sailing orders, and from which 
nothing can induce them to swerve, 
The man who seeks to improve his acquaintance with the desert-loving Ostrich, will presently discover why it was that 
she was created with a long neck. Like many other wary animals, she will often suffer a waggon to approach very close before 
taking the alarm, and will sometimes even feign lameness to lure the hunter from her nest; but generally speaking, her great 
range of vision renders approach within moderate shot impossible, otherwise than upon horseback. Riding down an Ostrich 
dead on end, however, is a thing not to be mentioned, or even thought of —for without distress this bird can perform its three 
miles in rather less time than Flying Childers, and might put its tongue in its cheek at the tyro who essayed to catch it 
in a stern chase. “What time,” says the inspired writer, “she lifteth up herself on high, she scorneth the horse and his rider,” 
Yet eyen miserably mounted as we were, we could generally obtain a running shot at duelling distance whenever a steed 
could be afforded—the enormous bulk of the object rendering the odds rather against its escaping at such close quarters. 
Reader, suffer me to present yonder group of more than a dozen, of which you instantly make up your mind to despoil the 
largest, even though the doing so should cost you a favourite horse. They have already been peering over their shoulders at 
you for a considerable time past, and having apprehended your design, now raise their white plumed wings above their backs, 
and working them like paddles with a motion corresponding to that of the legs, are getting gently under way. No sooner 
do they perceive by your encreased pace that you are really in earnest, than letting on the steam, they begin to travel at 
a rate that beggars all description — moving their pillar-like legs with a rapidity that might make you believe they were 
skimming above the ground, did not their great heayy toes, make the dust and pebbles fly bebind them, and create as much 
clatter as a horse in trotting. With their long, straight, slender necks reared high above the withered shrubs, like knobbed 
stakes in a hedge-row, and their delicate white plumes fluttering in the rude breeze of the desert—those snowy plumes which 
are destined perhaps some day to wave in Regal palaces above the marble brow of beauty— with long, hasty strides, oars 
and paddles going, here come “the running Ostriches,” and in ten more seconds will cross the very path upon which from 
another direction, you are urging your panting courser to meet them. A noble cock is leading, in stature some yard or so 
loftier than yourself, and clad in a suit of deep mourning, his sab/e shroud surmounted by three bunches of nodding plumes, 
argent. Now you are nearly across his bows. Halt, as he luffs up in the wind to pass you—abandon your blowing steed, 
who, by the by, is not very likely to run away from you, hold your breath tight —and as the gigantic bird thunders past 
within a few dozen yards, let drive at his swarthy ribs, Kicking his huge heels like a fallen camel, and striking his bill 
into the barren earth in his agony, there lies the noble fellow prostrate; whilst, without so much as casting one tender glance 
behind to ascertain what ails their lord, yon dusky ladies of his seraglio are fast vanishing in the distance. Resuming his 
stilts, and shaking his drooping wings, he makes one strong effort to follow them—ah no! brave bird, that fleet foot is tied 
for ever, and will obey thy call no longer. With neck reined back, and ample crop dilated, swelling and boiling like a 
turkey-cock, he still raises himself with stately mien, hissing, and agitating his white pinions; but though he fain would do 
you the honour of fracturing your thigh-bone, you prudently prefer discharging the contents of your second barrel at his 
broad cuirass, which terminating his reign on earth, stretches him upon the sun-baked plain, in all his piebald majesty of 
rumpled feathers! 
From the earliest periods, whether amongst rude or civilized nations, the downy plumes of the Ostrich have been in 
such universal request, that the value of the spoils more than compensating the labour of the pursuit, this swift-footed bird 
has held out to the hunter the greatest possible temptations. The Roman soldier often wore Ostrich plumes on his helmet, 
and they still continue to form an ornament for the Tiead of the warrior. The whole defensive armour of the Nasamones, 
inhabitants of Libya, was manufactured of the bird’s thick skin, which even at the present day is used as a cuirass by some 
of the Arab troops. In Turkey, the Janissary who signalized himself in arms had the privilege of empluming his turban; and 
in the kingdom of Congo the feathers mixed with those of the peacock are employed as the ensigns of war and victory. 
Amongst the ancient. Egyptians a religious veneration for the long white feathers, as symbols of truth, so enhanced their 
value, that, together with the eggs, which were regarded as the emblems of watchfulness, they formed a part of the tribute 
imposed by the Kings on the conquered countries wherein the bird abounded —the nobles of the land invariably adorning the 
rich trappings of their horses, as well as their own persons, with a profusion of the choicest, 
Lo! white-plumed steeds, and riders bold 
Throng in their rich and proud array; 
And countless banner-staves unfold 
Their glimmering sheen of burnished gold, 
Before the torches’ ray- 
The purpose to which the eggs were applied is not so well understood; but from the religious prejudice which exists 
