, 1885-10-14
rAg SOUTH AMERICAN osraloH
Value Of l1umage-EatInr an ostrich Egg
-The F1-sl - a Food

no 800" 80 80 HfH hRhA t'fN
At any OF the trading posts in Punta
Arenas you can buy for IS or $40 a rug
thai represents the breasts of twelve
or f'teen young ostriches, and even
tlat lor price gives the trader a prolt
OF many hundred per cent, as a lew
drinks OF whisky makes the Indian sus-
,eptiile to persuasion. If the govern
ment Of hill were to sell the monopoly
of ira ling in ostrich skins and feathers
to a few fair minded men, the birds
would multiply enormously, and the
beatty Of their plumage be very much
increased. The best plumcs are
worth SO or $50 a pound in the
market. and are much improved
by the proper care of the bird. Those
that run wild have their feathers torn
by bushes and ruined by mud, and the
better the quality of food they receive
tn better the pldmes they produce.
Ostriches usually live TO be 20 or more
years old ii they do not fall n prey to
hunters or pumas t~Patagonian lions,
and after they have reached the age of
4 or ) years they can be made to pro
duce a couple of pounds Of plumes an
nually. The American ostrich is said
not to be so good as that Of Africa, but
experts say that it is only because the
latter has been cultivated, while the
former has been permitted to run wild,
eating such food as he can pick up on
the pampas, preyed upon by pumas and
wolves, and tearing his coat to tatters
by plunging through the brush.
The propular supposition that an os-
trich never lays but n egg and drops
that anywhere upon the sand is non
sense. The female lays as many eggs
annually as a goose or n hen, and
covers them with as much care, usually
digging a hole in the sand with her
feet and depositing her eggs in it daily
until the time for incubation comes,
when she sits regularly upon them and
is fed by her mate. Very often eggs
are found singly upon the desert,
dropped in a chase or when the bird is
unable to reach her nest.
The egg of the ostrich is equal in size
and nourishment to about two dozen
ordinary hens eggs, and sometimes
weighs three pounds. The flavor is
wholesome, and an omelette made of
them could not DO detected. One egg
makes a good meal for half a dozen
hearty persons, and the Indians use
them very extensively. They are often
used by the residents of Punta Arenas,
and are sold to passing vessels for food
but there is great risk in purchasing the
riggs of the ostrich, the shells being so
dense as to prevent accurate judgment
as to their merit. A decaying hens egg
will not sink in water, because of the
gases inside the shell, but no such rule
can be applied to the egg of the
ostrich. They will sink in water whether
good or bad, and when a bad one is
opened the odor is sufficient to destroy
the peace of the entire village. Many
a camp on the pampas has been re-
moved n long distance because of the
indiscretion of a coolie who has broken
an egg instead of tapping it with the tip
Of his hunting knife; and it is said that
the stencil OF a very antique n can be
Sheard for several miles. When an egg
is tapped and found to be rotten, the
hole is Immediately covered with n quid
of tobacco, if the cook happens to have
one in his mouth, otherwise he claps on
a chunk of mud, and Immediately digs
a hole in which the cause of offense is
buried.
The flesh of the young ostrich is
wholesome and palatable, having a
gamy flavor, however, resembling that
of the wild turkey of the North Amer
lean woods The tongue and brains are
much coveted by epioures, and used to
be set before the potentates of ancient
times when they gave swell dinner par
ties. The breasts are the best part of
the body, and are roasted or broiled,
while any portion makes an excellent
soup or stew. He who happens to
tackle an old bird, however, if he is in
a hungry and a quarrelsome mood, will
discover that there are other things
tougher than sole leather. The philos-
opher who announced hat the world
offered no obstacles that human pa
thence and ingenuity could not over
come, never attempted to satisfy hun
ger by eating an ancient ostrich.