Six Letters From the ColoniesSeaton, R. C. (Robert Cooper)
History
Six Letters From the Colonies
Seaton, R. C. (Robert Cooper)
Australia -- Description and travel
As I said before, Adelaide is the only town of any size. There are
others, however. One day I went with my friend by train to the small
town of Gawler, which is about 25 miles to the north. The train
takes about one and a half hours. There we were met by a gentleman
with a trap, who took us to see an ostrich farm about four miles
from Gawler. It belongs to a company at Adelaide and we had an order
from head quarters to be shown over it. Ostriches have been imported
into South Australia from the Cape of Good Hope, and thrive here
well enough. At length, seeing the risk of a sharp competition in
ostrich feathers, the Cape authorities have laid an embargo of L100
on every ostrich exported, but this is locking the stable door when
the horse has escaped, for there are now in South Australia quite
sufficient birds to keep up the breed. The farm manager was a dry
old Scotchman of much humour, and had made himself accustomed to
their ways. The farm was about 170 acres in extent, and at this time
there were about 100 ostriches upon it, a number having recently
been sent away north to Port Augusta, where is another farm
belonging to the same Company. Some of the birds had committed
suicide on their way to the sea. They will run up against palings or
wire, get their long necks entangled, and sometimes cut their
throats in trying to extricate themselves. I noticed one that had
his throat bandaged up on this account. The birds are kept in
paddocks, three or four together, or more, if young and tame, but
some are very savage. We drove through all the paddocks, but the
manager kept a sharp look-out, lest any should "bounce" at us. An
ostrich, in attacking, kicks forward with his legs, which give
tremendous blows, and then, when he has kicked down his enemy, he
will probably sit upon him, and his weight is about two
hundredweight. An ostrich, therefore, cannot be considered a
generous foe. The old manager had been a good deal knocked about by
them himself. On one occasion a bird had kicked him twice, broken a
rib or two, and got him up fast against the palings. However, he
managed to seize hold of the bird's neck, and calling to some men on
the other side, he handed the neck to them over the palings, to hold
while he made his escape--which his ingenuity certainly deserved. I
asked him what he did when they ran away. "Well," he said, "I sit
down and wait till they stop; you can't catch them." The male takes
turn with the female in sitting on the eggs, and when an ostrich has
young ones she is very dangerous to approach. A good breeding couple
are worth L300. The feathers are not taken off at any particular
time of the year, but as they are ready, nor is cruelty exercised in
taking them. I saw several ovens which had been used for hatching
the eggs, but now they have enough birds to let them be hatched
naturally, which is the safer way. An ostrich at close quarters is
certainly an unpleasant looking beast; his neck, moving rapidly in
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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