The times., 1899-03-19
KILLED BY AN OSTRICH.
An African Kanir Kicked to Death
by n Giant Bird

An African Kafir Kicked to Death
by a Giant Bird
Qrom the World Wide Magazine.)
The open veldt lay before us. bathed in
the dew and the lingering shades of early
morning as we mounted our horses for
ride across country. Before we had
gone far, however, my companion was
summoned back by the news OF the Illness
of horse. and l continued my ride alone.
AS l advanced mile by mile the scenery
grew wilder, and great rocks, just tinged
with the purple of the sunrise, rose ma
jestically on either side. When the road
divided my Basuto pony turned off into a
bride path which led through wild
gorge and eventually lost itself among the
rocks at the foot of hill. The sure-footed
little creature started up the side of the
mountain and eventually landed me at the
top. Here | dismounted and left him to
Craze. We had been out some hours. Re-
mounting, we followed7a half beaten track
on the opposite side from which we had
come, and in a short time we were at the
foot of the hill and on the level veldt once
more. Going forward into the main road
(such as it was), which wound round the
base of the mountain, j started OH at a
quick canter toward home
For some time We went along at good
pace, when suddenly was startled by the
| sight, not far ahead, gofs a cock ostrich
rushing wildly backward and forward, with
its black -and-white wings tapping and
quivering with rage. l pulled up with a
| jerk, for at first l thought the bird was
! loose on the yeldt. but on closer inspection
/ found that wire fence was between us.
Just at this moment saw ON the other
side OF the camp a hen sitting ON her nest.
and, knowing only too we'll the danger l
was in, | paused to consider what | should
do A short distance in front the road ran
close TO the fence, and | knew it wou d be
impossible TO pass that way. There was
nothing for it but to retrace my steps and
follow the road back around the mountain
until IL Joined the one by which / had
come. | was not afraid, for il was by no
means an uncommon position in which to
| find ones self in the centre of an ostrich
| farming country, and, besides, | felt sure
of getting away. Accordingly, l turned
the ponys head in the opposite dire tion
and walked quietly back, hoping to escape
notice. A few moments passed. and | be-
gan to think we were safe, when suddenly
strange sound made me look around. To
my horror, l saw that in one of his wild
charges the enormous bird had caught
| sight of us, and was making frantic dashe5
| along the fence. which was unusually low
and was not of barbed wire. In a few sec
onds he would be over, and then it meant
race for dear life. My pony, l knew, was
one of the quickest in the country, and as
we had a good start. possibly for a short
| time we should keep ahead, but in the end
| knew the ostrich must easily catch US.
AS if by instinct my faithful friend scent
ed danger, and after one whispered word in
| his ear he was off like the wind. There
was suddenly a crash behind us. followed
| by measured beating which almost made
| the ground yibrate and set my heart
humping If you never heard the
tramp" of an infuriated ostrich, no words
will adequately describe it; the nearest ap-
| proach to ii that l can think of is the sound
| of the regular 'thud, thud," of soldiers
| on the march. There was no mistake; We
were being pursued by a furious cock os-
| trich-a formidable foe indeed Now it
was only a question of time. The pony's
| feet seemed scarcely TO touch the ground,
| and / bent forward urging him on fe
yerishly as / had never done before. Nearer
and nearer came the beating. the distance
| between us and our strange pursuer grow
| ing less and less every second. | was
| powerless to do anything but hold on to
my flying horse. We were miles away
| from any farm in the direction were
| going, and those behind knew nothing of
the terrible danger | was in. Could there
be no help? Alone on the boundless yeldt,
l looked vaguely up into the blue sky.
There was a distant shout, and | was
| dimly conscious that a short, heavy ker
rie whizzed past me. | dared not stop,
| for the ostrich was now but few yards
| behind and ! could almost feel the vibra-
| tion OF its great wings as it SKINNED,
half-fying, half-racing, over the earth
| Presently another kerrie came whizzing
| past, and this time it must have interfer
Il II 1. ~
| great bird, for | could tell, it had stopped
| short; and as the chase was not resumed
| / ventured to look back Ny heart seemed
| suddenly TO stand still; my head swan
| and | had the greatest difficulty to keep
| my seat in the saddle The infuriated os-
| trich had turned and was charging at a
| Katiir who was coming up from the camp
in pursuit. The man saw his danger, and
| eXcitedly threw kerrie after kerrie, which
| passed wide of the mark Vague ideas
flashed through my mind of going to his
| heip-an absurd idea, of course. and now
| impossible. for the ! pony had become
| thoroughly frightened. and was boiling as
| hard as he could go. There was more
shouting now. and hoped that others had
come to the rescue but, glancing back
| again. | saw it was too Iate-ostrich and
| man had met,
| The Kaffir made n tremendous spring at
| the long neck of the bird, but he was too
| slow, and an awful kick sent the poor
wretch into the air and dropped him with
| a thud upon the earth. Before he had time
to recover-if. indeed. he ever could-the
bird was literally dancing upon him, and
| shut my eyes TO hide the ghastly sight.
| By this time several KafTirs and a Dutch
| man had come up, and with long lasso
| they caught the sensitive part of the birds
neck and strangled it. dragging it OFF the
PROSTATE Kaffir at the same time. | never
| knew how ! reached home that day. For
| days and nights that CHASTITY fight haunted
me, and ! was troubled By the thought that
| the man had practically given his life for
mine. while l had done nothing even to
attempt to save him. His master, a hard
| mercenary Boer. was more filled with an
noyance at the loss of the valuable ostrich
than with pity for the man. The unfor-
tunate Kaftir had only lived till he reached
the farm and then he succumbed to his
terrible injuries.