Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 460: Volume 18, New Series, October 23, 1852Various
History
Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 460: Volume 18, New Series, October 23, 1852
Various
Periodicals
The paternal affection of the delim is remarkable: he never leaves his
offspring; he faces every danger, and combats every foe in their
defence. The reumda, on the contrary, is easily terrified, and leaves
all to secure her own safety; so that it is usual to compare a man who
bravely defends his tent to a delim, and a pusillanimous soul to a
reumda. The delim finds himself more than a match for the dog, the
jackal, the hyaena, or the eagle: man is his only invincible foe; yet
he dares to wage the unequal war when the young are in danger. If the
Arabs desire to make a prey of the ral, as the young ostriches are
called, they follow their footmarks, and having nearly overtaken them,
they begin to shout; the terrified birds run to their parents, who
face about, and stand still to fight for them; so the Arabs lead away
the ral before their eyes, in spite of the bravadoes of the delim, who
then manifests the liveliest grief. Sometimes the greyhound is
employed in this sport: the delim attacks him, and while they are
fighting, the men carry off the young ones, to bring them up in their
tents.
The ral are easily tamed; they sleep under the tent, are exceedingly
lively, and play with the children and dogs. When the tents are struck
for a flitting, the pet ostriches follow the camels, and are never
known to make their escape during the migration. If a hare passes, and
the men start in pursuit of it, the ostrich darts off in the same
direction, and joins the chase. If she meets in the douar (village of
tents) a child holding any eatable thing in its hand, she lays him
gently on the ground, and robs without hurting him. But the tame
ostrich is a great thief, or rather is so voracious, it devours
everything it finds--even knives, female trinkets, and pieces of iron.
The Arab on whose authority these details are given, relates that a
woman had her coral-necklace carried off and swallowed by an ostrich;
and an officer in the African army affirms, that one of them tore off
and ate the buttons of his surtout. The ostrich is, at the same time,
exceedingly dexterous; so that she will tear a date from a man's mouth
without hurting him. The Arabs are distrustful of her, and know where
to lay the blame if, on counting their money, they find two or three
dollars missing.
It is no uncommon thing to see, at some distance from a douar, a
wearied child riding on the back of an ostrich, which carries its
burden directly towards the tent, the young Jehu holding on by the
pinions. But she would not carry too heavy a load--a man, for
instance--but would throw him on the ground with a flap of her wing.
When ostriches are taken to market in Africa, their legs are tied
almost close together with a cord, another cord attached to this one
being held in the hand.
PROGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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