Farewell."

* * * * *



THE NATURALIST.

* * * * *


SPEED AND DIET OF THE OSTRICH.


In the _Annals of Sporting_ it is observed:--"If we are to place
confidence in traveller's tales, the ostrich is swifter than the
Arabian horse. During the residence of Mr. Adamson at Pador, a French
factory on the south side of the river Niger, he says that two
ostriches, which had been about two years in the factory, afforded him
a sight of a very extraordinary nature. These gigantic birds, though
young, were of nearly the full size. They were (he continues) so tame,
that two little blacks mounted both together on the back of the
larger. No sooner did he feel their weight, than he began to run as
last as possible, and carried them several times round the
village,--and it was impossible to stop him, otherwise than by
obstructing the passage. This sight pleased me so much, that I wished
it to be repeated, and, to try their strength, directed a full-grown
negro to mount the smallest, and two others the larger. This burden
did not seem at all disproportioned to their strength. At first, they
went at a pretty sharp trot; but when they became heated a little,