The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1866-1891, 1882-08-24
Hunting the Ostrich.

HarrOQ WeQG OStllcu uuutiuS'
The friends rode to the top OF a
ridge, halting and taking careful sur
vey of the country before them; the re-
suit was one that awakened hope and
delight. Less than half q mile distant
was ridge parallel with the one on
which they had halted, and between the
two ran a valley several miles in extent.
Near the middle Of this two ostriches
were grazing, while gentle breeze was
blowing from the east. Instead OF
separating and attempting to flank the
birds, the borsemen rode at leisurely
gallop in the direction ofthe eastern end
of the valley. This was narrower than the
opposite opening, which therefore OF.
fered the very best chance in the world
for the birds to escape, for they could
speedily dash through it into the open
country beyond. where they would be
safe against harm during that after
noon. st lessti hi il i atu saafa such occa.
sions that the ostrich gives an exhibition
of stupidity which approaches the mar
velous. The sight of the hunters
making for the eastern opening of the
valley seemed to give the ostriehes the
belief that their enemies were trying to
cut off their only avenue of flight,
and instead Of turning the opposite
way, they instantly started on their
long, swift trot toward the point at
which the hunters were also heading
with much the start of tie birds. The
two ostiches displayed still more
marked failure to "grasr the situa-
ton" The singular chase could not
have lasted long, when the birds, run.
ming almost side by side, must have
seen that the horsemen were sure to
reach the opening ahead of them. But
not only did they refuse to turn back
but they also failed to swerve in
the slightest degree from their
course on which they hal started t:
they simply increased their speed
and, with their ungainly necks
outstretched, struck two.minute trot
and sped away for the most dangerous
point on the horizon. As the pursuers
were quite certain of their game, they
now slackened their gait somewhat, and
each fred shot. The bullet of Captain
Fewsmith went through the brain Of
his bird, which ran few steps in q
wild staggering way and then went
down, its head plowing quite furrow
in the sand, Leaping from his saddle,
the captain hurried forward and cut the
throat of the ostrich, so as to end it's
suHerings.
It was almost at the same instant that
Harrod discharged his rifle, and seeing
the bird acting strangely, he was con-
fident of having inflicted mortal
wound, and was scarcely behind the
captain in springing 10 the ground to
dispatch his prize.
But he had made slight mistake,
or When he had placed himself directly
in the path OF the bird and held his
hunting knife ready to give him the
finishing touch, the ostrich seemed to
brighten up. Before the gentleman
suspected his intention he delivered
O terrific kick which tumbled the
hunter over on his back, as if
struck by falling tree. The ostrich is
capable of kicking with such force as
to kill the panther or iackal, and he
does it by throwing his foot forward,
the same as man. In the present
instance Mr.. Harrod fell so quickly that
CaptaiG Fewsmith ran forward in alarm.
Assisting him to his feet, he was found
to be little injured, although he de-
clared, with grim smile, that he knew
more about ostriches than he ever did
before.
The bird kept on trotting straight
away until he vanished in the twilight
and was seen no more, while the hunters
were glad enough to 60 into camp and
wait till the morrow.
There are different methods of hunt
ing the ostrich. Every schoolboy re-
calls the picture of the bushman awk-
wardly disguised as one Of the birds,
who is thereby enabled to approach
close enough to herd to bring down
several with bow and arrow. In other
cases the hunter lies in wait and Uses
poisoned azroTsS In North Africa the
game is pursued on horseback, the
chase being kept up for several days
until the bird is literally run down and
is unable of going further or making
resistance. Sometimes herd is forced
into the water, where it is an easy matter
toknock them in the head. The European
horsemen prefer to conceal themselves
near pools and springs where the bird
is IN the habit Of coming to drink, so
as to shoot him unawares. The value
of the ostrich, OF course, lies in its
plurage. These feathers are very
costly, it rarely happening that more
than two dozen marketable ones can be