Note 2 — Chapter XXII · Gymnastic exercises;—various discoveries; singular animals, &c.

In this manner we set out, full of good humour and high spirits, from Falcon’s Stream. Turning round Flamingo Marsh, we soon reached the pleasant spot which before had so delighted us. My wife, who now beheld for the first time its various beauties, was never tired of praising and admiring it. Fritz, who longed to be engaged in some sporting adventure, took a direction a little further from the sea-shore; and sending Turk into the tall grass, he followed himself, and both disappeared. Soon, however, we heard Turk barking loud, a large bird sprang up, and almost at the same moment a shot from Fritz brought it down: but the bird though wounded was not killed; it raised itself and got off with incredible swiftness, not by flying, but by running. Turk pursued with the eagerness of an animal enraged; Fritz, bawling out like a mad creature, followed; and Ponto, seeing what was going on, threw the monkey off his back, and fell speedily into the same track. It was Ponto that seized the bird, and held it fast till Fritz came up. But now a different sort of scene succeeded from that which took place at the capture of the flamingo. The legs of that bird are long and weak, and it was able to make but a poor resistance. The present captive was large in size, and proportionately strong; it struck the dogs, or whoever came near, with its legs, with so much force, that Fritz, who had received a blow or two, retired from the field of battle, and dared not again approach this feathered antagonist. Turk, who had gallantly assailed the bird, was also discouraged by some severities applied to his head by the sturdy combatant, and yielded the contest. The brave Ponto alone withstood the animal’s attacks; he seized one of its wings, and did not let it go till I reached the spot, which I was long in doing on account of the height of the grass and the great weight of my gun; but when I was near enough to distinguish the bird as it lay on the ground, I was overjoyed to see that it was a female bustard of the largest size2. I had long wished to possess and to tame a bird of this species for our poultry-yard, though I foresaw that it would be somewhat difficult.