I stepped 130 long paces, and found that the bullet
had struck the bird in the centre of the back, killing it instantly. My
party came up to my whistle, and I despatched a mounted orderly to camp
to bring men and donkeys.
Although I have been many years in Africa, this was the first and the
last ostrich that I have ever bagged. It was a very fine male, and the
two thighs and legs were a very fair load for a strong donkey.
I have seen erroneous accounts of ostriches designated as two varieties,
the black and the grey. The black, with white feathers in the wings and
tail, is simply the male, and the grey the female. The feathers of this
bird were old and in bad order. The fat is much esteemed by the Arabs as
an external application for rheumatism. I found the stomach rich in
scorpions, beetles, leaves of trees, and white rounded quartz pebbles.
The bird must have come from a considerable distance as there was
neither rock nor pebble in the neighbourhood.
On my return to camp I carved an artificial ostrich head from a piece of
wood, and made false eyes with the neck of a wine bottle.
