THE WAYS OF THE OSTRICH. [To the Editor of the
SPECTATOR.] Sut,When spending a winter in Algeria many years ago I - was given the following account of ostrich hunting by the 'great Arab sheiks of the Sahara. This hunting, I was infOrmed, could. only be done in the very hottest weather, and "the' Arabs had a curious way of ascertaining if it was warm enough. When the weather was pronounced favour- able 'the 'sheik' and his guests, mounted on horses trained to greyhound" thinness, took their places where they were someWhat hidden by rocks or undulations of the ground. Meanwhile some hundred or more mounted tribesmen had heeri sent" out with orders to locate a bunch of ostriches some twenty miles from the ambush and to drive them in at a smart rate. When 'the 'birds had been driven as near as they would go, the hunters sallied out and rode after them at top speed: Somewhat tired by their preliminary drive, the ostriches were nevertheless able to keep well ahead of the hunters and to maintain this pace to the last. The singular thing, however, was said to be that 'when they became completely exhausted they did not gradually slacken their pace till the hunter came up, but stopped suddenly, with their head lowered to the sand, and so waited their end. It' has often struck me that this habit may be the origin of the legend that the ostrich endeavours to escape its enemy by hiding its head in the sand.—I am, Sir, &c.,
Previous page
