Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1852-07-17

where large number of ostriches are tc
be found. These birds are generally me,
with in places where there is much grass
and where rain has recently fallen. The
Arabs say, that where the ostrich sees the
light shine, and barley getting ready
wherever il may be, thither she runs, re.
gardleSs OF distance; and ten days. march
is nothing TO her; and it has passed into a
proverb in the desert, of man skillful ia
the care OF hocks, and in finding pas,uragr
that he is like the ostrich, where he sees
the light there he comes.
The hunters start in the morning. At
ter one or two days journey, when they
have arrived near the spot pointed out, and
they begin to perceive traces Of their game,
they halt and camp. The next day, two
intelligent slaves, almost entirely stripped,
are sent to reconnotre they each carry a
goat-skin at their side, and little bread
they walk until they meet with the os-
triches, which are generally found in ele-
waited places. As soon as the game is in
view, one lies down to watch, the other
returns TO convey the information. The
ostriches are found in troops, comprising
sometimes as many as sixty; but at the
pairing time they are more scattered, three
or four couple only remaining together.
The horsrmen, guided by the scout, tra-
vel gently toward the birds the nearer
they approach the spot the greater is their
caution, and when they reach the last
ridge which conceals them from the view
of their game, they dsmount, and two
creep forward TO ascertain if they are still
there. Should such be the case, a moder-
ate quantity Of water is given to the hor-
SeS, the baggage is left, and each man
mounts, carrying at his side a chebouta, or
goat-skin. The servants and cames follow
the track of the horsemen, carrying with
them only little corn and water.
The exact position of the ostriches be-
ing known, the plans are arranged the
horsemen divide and form circle round
the game at such distance as not to be
seen. The servants wait where the horse
men have separated, and as soon as they
see them at their posts, they walk right be-
fore them; the ostriches fly, but are met by
the hunters, who do nothing at first but
drive them back into the circle thus their
strength is exhausted by being made to con-
tinually run round in the ring. AT the
first signs OF fatigue in the birds, the horse
men dash in-prtsently the flock separ-
ates; the exhausted birds are seen to open
their wings, which is a sign OF great exhaus-
ton; the horSemen, certain of their prey,
now represS their horses; each hunter se-
lects his ostrich, runs it down, and finishes
it by blow on the head with the stick
above mentioned. The moment the bird
falls the man jumps off his horse, and cuts
her throat, taking care 10 hold the neck at
such distance from the body, as not to
soil the plumage Of the wings. The male
bird, while dying, utters loud means, but
the female dies in silence.
When the ostrich is on the point of be-
ing overtaken by the hunter, she is so fa-
tgued, that if he does not wish TO kill her,
she can easily BE- driven with the stick to
the neighborhood of the camelS. lmmedi-
ately after the birds have been bled TO
death, they are carefully skinned, so that
the feathers may not be injured, and the
skin is then stretched upon tree, or on a
horse, and salt rubbed well into it. A fire
is lit, and the fat of the birds is boiled for a
long time in kettles; when very liquid, it
is poured into sort of bottle made of the
skin of the thigh and leg down to the foot,
strongly fastened at the bottom; the fat Of
one bird is usually sufficient 10 fill two of
these legs; it is said that in any other ves-
sci the fat would spoil. When, however,
the bird is breeding, she is extremely lean,
and is then hunted only for the sake of her
feathers. After these arrangements are
completed, the flesh is eaten by the hun
terS, who season it well with pepper and
flour.
While these proceedings are in progress,
the horses are carefully tended, watered,
and fed with corn, ana The party remain
quiet during forty-eight hours, TO give their
animals rest after that they either return
TO their encampment, or embark in new
enterprises.
To the Arab the chase of the ostrich has
a double attraction-pleaSure and profit; (;
the price obtained for the skins well COM
pensates for the expenses. Not only do
the rich enjoy the pursuit, but the poor,
who know how to set about it, are permit
ted to participate in it also. The usual
plan is for poor Arab to arrange with one
who is opuent for the loan OF his camel,
horse, harness, and two-thirds of all the
necessary provisions. The borrower fur
nShes himself the remaining third, and the
produce Of the chase is divided in the same
proportions.
The ostrich, like many other of the fea-
thered tribe, has great deal of selfcon-
cet. On fine sunny days tame bird may
be seen struttng backward and forward
with great majesty, tanning itself with its
quivering, expanded wings, and at every
turn seeming to admire its grace, and the
elegance of its shadow. DR.. Shaw saws
that, though these birds appear tame and
tractable to persons well-known to them,
they are often very fierce and violent to-
ward strangers, whom they would not only
endeavor to push down by running furious
ly against them, but they would peck at
them with beaks, and strike with their feet
and so violent is the blow that can be Civ
en-, that the doctor saw person whose alb
domen had been ripped completely open
by stroke from the claw of an ostrich.
To have the stomach of an ostrich has
become proverbial, and with good reason
for this bird stands enviably forward in re-
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