At
Intervals The Bolas Would Come Whirling Through The Air, And He Would
Dodge Or Avoid Them By A Quick Turn, But Eventually He Would Be Hit
And The Thong Would Wind Itself About His Legs And Down He Would Come.
Then the hunters would gather round him, and pulling out their knives
begin operations by cutting off his head;
Then the body would be cut
up, the wings and breast removed, these being the best parts for
eating, and there would be much talk about the condition and age of
the bird, and so on. Then would come the most exciting part of the
proceedings - the cutting the gizzard open and the examination of its
varied contents; and by and by there would be an exultant shout, and
one of the boys would pretend to come on a valuable find - a big silver
coin perhaps, a _patacon,_ and there would be a great gabble over
it and perhaps a fight for its possession, and they would wrestle and
roll on the grass, struggling for the imaginary coin. That finished,
the dead ostrich would get up and place himself among the hunters,
while the boy who had captured him with his bolas would then play
ostrich, and the chase would begin anew.
When this game was played I was always chosen as first ostrich, as at
that time I could easily outrun and out-jump any of my gauche
playmates, even those who were three or four years older than myself.
Nevertheless, these games - horse-racing, sham fights, and ostrich-
hunting, and the like - gave me no abiding satisfaction; they were no
sooner over than I would go back, almost with a sense of relief, to my
solitary rambles and bird-watching, and to wishing that the day would
come when my masterful brother would allow me to use a gun and
practise the one sport of wild-duck shooting I desired.
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