Stories about the peculiar taste of these giant
birds recurred to me. People say they will eat anything. Their
digestive powers have passed into a proverb. The day before I had given
an ostrich a large apple, which it coolly bolted, and I could trace the
progress of the apple by the lump in its throat as it passed rather
slowly down. Some one--Bonny I rather think--had told me he had seen an
ostrich accept and swallow a bottle of shoe-blacking! Anything bright
is sure to attract the eye of an ostrich and be coveted. I trembled for
my colour-box, and, seizing my fork, charged again.

About this time Bonny himself came to say that the cart was ready. We
therefore packed up and came away. The ostriches, he said, were too
young to think of molesting us, though he admitted that they would
probably have swallowed the colour-box if I had allowed them. They
followed us down to the gate, and finally saw us safely off their
premises.

"Father once had an ostrich," said Bonny, as we walked towards the
house, "that caught a couple of thieves for him."

"Indeed! how was that, Bonny?"

"You are aware that Kafirs are terrible thieves?" he replied.

"Yes, I've been given to understand that they have propensities that
way."

"Oh! but you have no idea how clever they are at it, and the Totties are
just as bad, if not worse. On one occasion we had a nest of eggs in the
field over there, which we had left to be hatched in the natural way by
the hen-ostrich. One night it rained very hard--so hard that we feared
the young ones would be drowned in the nest, so brother Johnny was sent
to look after them. He took two Totties with him. It was very dark,
but he found the nest with the cock bird sitting on it. You know the
cock always sits at night. Well, Johnny took him by the nose and pulled
him off the nest, and gave him to the two Totties to hold. It was hard
work, but they kept his head well down, so that he couldn't kick.
Johnny soon bagged all the little ones, leaped over the wall, and then
called out to let go the cock. It was so dark that he couldn't see very
well. He could only hear a scuffle, and then saw the two men bounding
over the wall like indiarubber balls while the cock went bang against it
like a battering-ram. We got the little ones home all safe, but, would
you believe it? these rascally Totties had managed to pull out all the
best wing-feathers while they were holding the cock--each feather worth,