Among the various animals which the Arabs hunt for sport or profit, that which most fully rewards their exertions, is the ostrich: a party of about twenty Arabs, mounted on the desert horses already described,[106] set out together, riding gently against the wind, one after the other, at the distance of about half a mile asunder; they walk on, tracing the foot-marks, till they discover those of the ostrich, which they then follow; when they come in sight of their game, they rush towards it at full speed, always keeping nearly the same distance as at first; the bird finding her wings an impediment to her progress against the wind, turns towards the horsemen, and after escaping the first and second, is perhaps shot, or brought down by the third or fourth, or some of those that follow; they are, however, often a whole day in the chase before they secure their bird. Were it not for this stratagem, aided by the stupidity of the ostrich, it would be impossible to take it. The Saharawans carry muskets, but in hunting the ostrich they rarely use them, trusting rather to their Zerwata, which is a stick about two feet long, and three inches in circumference, taken from the Alk Soudan tree, or the tree that produces the Senegal gum, being a hard close-grained heavy wood; this Zerwata they throw with extraordinary dexterity at the legs of the birds, and by breaking or maiming them, impede their progress, and by that means secure them. Having cut the throat according to the Mohammedan practice, they pluck off the feathers and divide them, as well as the carcase, into different portions: on these occasions, as on all others, whether in hunting, pillaging, or attacking (Akkabahs) the accumulated caravans from Soudan, they divide the booty into as many shares as there are persons to partake, caring but little about the equality of them; then each person taking something that he has about him (such as a key, a knife, or a piece of money), they put it into the corner of a hayk or garment, and covers it over, waiting till some stranger or uninterested person appears, whom they engage to take out of the garment before mentioned, the different articles deposited therein, and to place one on each of the parcels or lots of feathers and meat, when each person takes up that portion on which the article belonging to him is placed; they then separate, and retire to their respective douars, where they regale themselves and their families with the produce of their sport. The flesh of the ostrich is by no means palatable to an European; it is a dark coloured and strong meat; the fat is much esteemed in medicine for all kinds of bruises and sprains, and is sold at a very high price: but money will not always procure it, friendship or hospitality being more powerful in these regions than even money itself! this medicine, therefore, is often procurable only through the former. The feathers are sold by the hunters to the agents of the merchants of Mogodor