The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1869-09-30

"REMINISCENCES OF TRAVEL. |
1.-THE sketches under this head are prepared
especially for the COURIER, and will be con-
rs the writer finds spare moments which he
may devote to the revision of the notes jotted
down during the years covered by his adven-
tures.-ED. CoURIER.l
NUMBER II.
AN OSTRICH HUNT.
We had ransackcd Chill and OK
hausted every nook and corner Of
hcr splendid capital but were obliged
to linger-awaiting the movements
of the hostile Spanish feet which
lay in front of Valparaiso. We were
breakfasting at the Legation one
morning, when Gen. K suggest
cd hunt for Ostrich over on the
pamps Of Buenos Ayres. The prop
osition was hailed with delight
There were mighty Nimrods at the
table who had shot elephants in In
dia, grizzly bear in the Rocky
Mountains, and caymen in the ORR
nocco; but Ostrich was new card.
An old navy captain who had hunt
cd the feathered tribe in almost ev-
cry cline, and who had carried the
war upon four footed game into AT.
RIGA herself, confessed tho sport q
novel one to him, and entered into
our plans and specifications with tho
alacrity and zest of keen old sports
man, TO whom the. promised hunt
was o fortuitous godsend, an alvyn-
titious windfall.
That very day we organized. The
party numbered an even dozen, be-
sides the or-domo, and the mule
teers. First was Con. K, dash
ing, impetuous and brave, who was
equally at homo whether Staying reb-
els, quadrupeds or fowls ;-then
Sam. -, fine shot, q fellow of In
fnet jsst, and as graceful as Irving
with his quill, as many readers Of
tho Tribune must bear me witness.
Then we had the old captain-whose
govt had vanished at the bare tho't
lot 'hunt,"-and q ..dapper little
Medico, whom by much entreaty we
prevailed upon to lay aside kids and
cane, to "throw physio to the dogs"
and join us in our peregrinations.-
All Of us carried brecch- leaders; most
of the party were familiar with
their use, while even I had often
banged away at tho monkeys, par
rotts, macaws and such other noble
game as had obtruded itself within
range Of q wiro-cartridge shooting
"Wesly Richards" which l used to
borrow of friend when preparing
tor grand coup d etat upon the deni-
zens of the Isthmian forrest.
Our caravan moved, on the next
morning. We rodc mules. Halfa-
dozen llamas were laden with our
traps, and driven in the front; our
cavalcade was imposing, and was
we'll calculated to strike dumb with
awe the halfclad, barbarous natives
whom we occasionally stirred up in
the Businesses of the Andes. Our
road, or rather path, led us to the
Southwark of Aconcagua, that giant
mountain, whose snowy peak seems
to embrace the clouds and kiss the
azure sky" the virgin purity Of
whose icy covering has never been
polluted by the tread CT mortal man
On the third day we had crossed the
Andes, and were holding council
of war fifty miles from the base pre-
paratory to merciless slaughter oil
the plumed, swift footed birds of the
pampas.
j The preliminaries were finally left
to the major-domo, since upon com.
pairing notes we found ourselves des.
perately green as to the usual mode
Of procedure upon such occasions.
l must not forget to mention that at
. small village at the foot of the An.
dcs we had exchanged our mules for
horses-animals whom tho ostrich
hunters might bestride with more
dignity than the long-eared, ATHENA.
ted, yet faithful burros, who had car.
ried their riders safely across the
mountain range.-These horses were
trained to the hunt. Half the popula.
ton of the village had taken up the
march, behind us, and when we met
| with signs of game fifty miles with
IN the pampas, we found tbcm indis.
Ipensablc adjuncts to the party. The
prelimlnaries agreed upon we 10th.
cred the animals, and prepared to
pass the night in the open air, az
morning was adjudged to be the most
seasonablo time in which to start the
birds. The nights in the Southern
hemisphere are beautiful. New stars
appear, consultations rise above the
horizon to which the Northcrner il
an utter stranger, and their brilliancy
in the pure atmosphere Of the high
table lands of Buenos Ayres is no,
surpassed elsewhere in the world.
i Morning dawned and found us in
the saddles. Twenty natives mount
edon small mustangs armed with the
botds were sent out across the sandy
plain to hedge y a circuitof twenty
miles, anddrive the feathered game
towards clump Of stunted trees, o,
rather brush, in which we were tt
lie in waiting. Many Of those natives
have hunted ostrich for living, and
had found it profitable. The feathers
of a male bird will bring five dollars
in goods and money, from the ira
ders. The latter gather up large lott
of feathers and sell them in Valpa
raise or ship them to Europe, at Q
large profit. Whom plumes are in
fashion among the fair, the feathers
of single ostrich will often bring, al
retail, two hundred dollars,-fol
which the hunter had received five
The bolas, with which the natives
hunt is something like a lasso. In.
stead, however, Of The running moose
there is weight of lead or Other
heavy metal fixed to the loose end
of the thong. 1t is gathered up in
q coil like the lasso, is thrown with
I a whirl and crack, and, striking the
legs Of the object at which it is di.
rected, winds around them with the
/ >,o1oc; =, nP 1;rb@n;on TL, H., 81