their heads one against another three times, so hard, that many times the blood runs down....They'll come as often within five or six yards one of another, and clap their hands to each other, and then put forward the left leg, bowing their body, and leaning with the left elbow on the left knee, for a little while looking one at the other like two fighting cocks, then at it they go. . . . At their byrams, or festivals, those which are their most famous pilewans, come in to shew their parts, before the Dey, eight or ten together. They are the choice of all the stout Wrestlers." Pitt's Account of Algiers, page 168.

Do not these challengers well deserve the description of Leg-and-Thigh-Men, or shoulder-and-thigh-men? Their very attitudes seem to have furnished their name, which seems indeed correctly expressive of them. Now, as we learn, that, occasionally the most famous of these are selected and engaged, is there any thing unlikely in the supposition, that the Philistines assembled their best Wrestlers, and most notorious combatants, to engage the famous Samson? that these, fighting in the manner described by Pitts and Dr. Shaw, are denoted by the expression "Hip-andThigh-Men?" i. e. those who made a profession of Wrestling, and who were esteemed eminent in that exercise. This idea may be accepted, notwithstanding the word (SHUK) rendered leg, should be taken for shoulder (as it is in 1 Sam. ix. 24. “the (shuk) shoulder of the lamb, and what was upon it"), since under this allusion, also, it may describe adroit and powerful Wrestlers, whose shoulders bore a principal part in their exertions." He smote the Hip-and-Thigh-Men; or, the Arm-and-Leg-Men ; or, the Hip-and-Shoulder- Men; i, e. their best prize-fighters, with a great stroke."

No. CXLIV. NATURAL HISTORY OF THE OSTRICH. (WITH A PLATE, No. 111.) FROM DR. SHAW'S TRAVELS IN ARABIA.

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BUT something still would be wanting to the Natural History of these deserts, without a more particular description of the Ostrich, called all over these countries Naamah for there are several curious circumstances in the account we are to give of it, which few persons could ever have an opportunity of being acquainted with.— Some of them, likewise, will be of no small consequence in illustrating the more difficult part of the description which is given of it in the following verses, Job xxxix : "Ver. 13. Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacock, or wings and feathers unto the Ostrich Which may be rendered thus from the original: The wing of the Ostrich is (quivering, or) expanded [by noiel oseh,―ala quæ exultare facta est. Radix olas proprie est, opadále vibrantem, motum edere, irrequieta jactatione agitari. Vide p. 277, lib. Jobi, Schultens, ed. vir. cl. R. Grey, S. T. P.], the very feathers and plumage of the Stork.

?'

14. "Which leaveth (deposits, or trusts) her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them (viz. by incubation) in (the sand) dust.

[Several natural historians, and among the rest Mr. Ray (probably by understanding tazob as of a total dereliction), have supposed the eggs of the Ostrich to be hatched entirely by the sun (quæ in arena condita, solis duntaxat calore foveri dicuntur, Raii Synops. Av. p. 36); whereas the original word n TеHAMMEм, signifies actively, that she heateth them, viz. by incubation].

15. "And forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them.

16." She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers; her labour is in vain without fear;

17. "Because God hath deprived her of wisdom; neither hath he imparted to her understanding.

18. "What time she lifteth herself on high (or, as it may otherwise be translated, when she raiseth herself up to run away-viz. from her pursuers) she scorneth (or laughs at) the horse and his rider."

"In commenting, therefore, upon these texts, it may be observed, that when the Ostrich is full grown, the neck, particularly of the male, which before was almost naked, is now very beautifully covered with red feathers. The plumage, likewise, upon the shoulders, the back, and some part of the wings, from being hitherto of a dark greyish colour, becomes now as black as jet; whilst the rest of the feathers retain an exquisite whiteness. They are, as described at ver. 13. the very feathers and plumage of the Stork; i. e. they consist of such black and white feathers as the stork, called from thence λapyos, is known to have. But the belly, the thighs, and the breasts, do not partake of this covering; being usually naked, and, when touched, are of the same warmth as the flesh of quadrupeds.

"Under the joint of the great pinion, and sometimes upon the lesser, there is a strong pointed excrescence, like a cock's spur, with which it is said to prick and stimulate itself, and thereby acquire fresh strength and vigour, whenever it is pursued.But Nature seems rather to have intended, that in order to prevent the suffocating effects of too great a plethora, a loss of blood should be consequent thereupon, especially as the Ostrich appears to be of a hot constitution, with lungs always confined, and consequently liable to be preternaturally inflamed on these occasions.

"When these birds are surprised, by coming suddenly upon them, whilst they are feeding in some valley, or behind some rocky or sandy eminence, in the deserts, they will not stay to be curiously viewed and examined. Neither are the Arabs ever dexterous enough to overtake them, even when they are mounted upon their jinse, or horse of family, as they are called. [These horses are descended from such as were concerned in the hagyra, or flight, which Mahomet, together with Omar, Abubecker, &c. made from Mecca to Medina. There is an exact account taken, and preserved, of their pedigrees, as there is of the families of kings and princes in Europe.] They, when they raise themselves up for flight (ver. 18.), laugh at the horse and his rider. They afford him an opportunity only of admiring at a distance, the extraordinary agility, and the stateliness likewise of their motions, the richness of their plumage, and the great propriety there was of ascribing to them (ver. 13.) an expanded quivering wing. Nothing, certainly, can be more beautiful and extraordinary than such a sight! the wings, by their repeated, though unwearied, vibrations, equally serving them for sails and oars; whilst their feet, no less assisting in conveying them out of sight, are no less insensible of fatigue.

"By the repeated accounts which I have had from my conductors, as well as from Arabs of different places, I have been informed that the Ostrich lays from thirty to fifty eggs. Ælian (Hist. Animal. lib. xiv. cap. 7.) mentions more than eighty; but I never heard of so large a number. The first egg is deposited in the centre; the rest are planted, as conveniently as possible, round about it. In this manner it is said to lay, deposit, or trust (ver. 14.) her eggs in the earth, and to warm them in the sand, and forgetteth (as they are not placed like those of some other birds, upon trees, or in the clefts of rocks, &c.) that the foot (of the traveller) may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them.

Yet, notwithstanding the ample provision which is hereby made for a numerous offspring, scarce one quarter of these eggs are ever supposed to be hatched; and of those that are, no small share of the young ones may perish with hunger from being

left too early, by their dams, to shift for themselves. For in those, the most barren and desolate recesses of the Sahara, where the Ostrich chooses to make her nest, it would not be enough to lay eggs and hatch them, unless some proper food was near at hand, and already prepared for their nourishment; and accordingly, we are not to consider this large collection of eggs, as if they were intended for a brood; they are, the greatest part of them, reserved for food; which the dam breaks and disposes of, according to the number and the craving of her young ones. Vide Elian Hist. Animal. lib. iv. cap. 37. Philo, in Lambis. Boch. Hieroz. par. post. lib. ii. cap. 17. "But yet, for all this, a very little share of that ropy, or natural affection, which so strongly exerts itself in most other creatures, is observable in the Ostrich. For, upon the least distant noise, or trivial occasion, she forsakes her eggs, or her young ones; to which, perhaps, she never returns; or if she does, it may be too late, either to restore life to the one, or to preserve the lives of the other. Agreeably to this account, the Arabs meet sometimes with whole nests of these eggs, undisturbed, some of which are sweet and good; others are addle and corrupted; others again have their young ones of different growths, according to the time it may be presumed they have been forsaken by the dams. They oftener meet a few of the little ones, no bigger than well-grown pullets, half starved; straggling and moaning about, like so many distressed orphans, for their mother. And in this manner the Ostrich may be said (ver. 16.) to be hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers; her labour (in hatching and attending them so far) being in vain, without fear, or the least concern of what becomes of them afterwards. This want of affection is also recorded, Lam. iv. 3. The daughter of my people, says the prophet, is cruel, like the Ostrich in the wilderness.

"Neither is this the only reproach that may be due to the Ostrich. She is likewise inconsiderate and foolish, in her private capacity; particularly in the choice of food, which is frequently highly detrimental and pernicious to it; for she swallows every thing greedily and indiscriminately; whether it be pieces of rags, leather, wood, stones, or iron. When I was at Oran, I saw one of these birds swallow, without any seeming uneasiness, or inconvenience, several leaden bullets, as they were thrown upon the floor, scorching hot from the mould: the inward coats of the oesophagus and stomach being probably better stocked with glands and juices, than in other animals with shorter necks. They are particularly fond of their own excrement, which they greedily eat up, as soon as it is voided: no less fond are they of the dung of hens and other poultry. It seems as if their optic, as well as olfactory nerves, were less adequate and conducive to their safety and preservation, than in other creatures.-The Divine Providence in this, no less than in other respects (ver. 17.), having deprived them of wisdom, neither hath it imparted to them understanding.

"Those parts of the Sahara which these birds chiefly frequent, are destitute of all manner of food and herbage; except it be some few tufts of coarse grass; or else a few other solitary plants of the laureola, apocynum, and some other kinds; each of which is equally destitute of nourishment: and in the Psalmist's phrase (cxxix. 6.) even withered afore it be plucked up. Yet these herbs, notwithstanding this dryness and want of moisture in their temperature, will sometimes have both their leaves and their stalks studded all over with a great variety of land snails, which may afford them some little refreshment. It is very probable, likewise, that they may sometimes seize upon lizards, serpents, together with insects and reptiles of various kinds. Yet, still considering the great voracity and size of this camel-bird, it is wonderful, not only how the little ones, after they are weaned from the provisions I have mentioned, should be brought up and nourished; but even how those of fuller growth, and much better qualified to look out for themselves, are able to subsist.

"Their organs of digestion, and particularly the gizzards (which, by their strong friction, will wear away even iron itself), shew them indeed to be granivorous; but yet, they have scarce ever an opportunity to exercise them, in this way, unless, when they chance to stray (which is very seldom) toward those parts of the country which are sown and cultivated; for these, as they are much frequented by the Arabs, at the several seasons of grazing, ploughing, and gathering in the harvest, so they are little visited by, as indeed they would be an improper abode for, this shy timorous birda lover (pixéonμos) of the deserts. This last circuinstance in the behaviour of the Ostrich, is frequently alluded to in the Holy Scriptures, particularly Isaiah xiii. 21.; xxxiv. 13. and xliii. 20.; Jer. 1. 39. where the word ( jannah), instead of being rendered the Ostrich, as it is rightly put in the margin, is called the owl; a word used likewise instead of jannah, or the Ostrich, Levit. xi. 16. and Deut. xiv. 15.

"Whilst I was abroad, I had several opportunities of amusing myself with the actions and behaviour of the Ostrich. It was very diverting to observe, with what dexterity and equipoise of body it would play and frisk about, on all occasions. In the heat of the day particularly, it would strut along the sunny side of the house with great majesty. It would be perpetually fanning and priding itself with its quivering expanded wings, and seem, at every turn, to admire and be in love with its shadow. Even at other times, whether walking about or resting itself upon the ground, the wings would continue these fanning vibrating motions, as if they were designed to mitigate and assuage that extraordinary heat wherewith their bodies seem to be naturally affected.

"Notwithstanding these birds appeared tame and tractable to such persons of the family as were more known and familiar to them, yet they were often very rude and fierce to strangers, especially the poorer sort, whom they would not only endeavour to push down, by running furiously upon them, but would not cease to peck at them violently with their bills, and to strike at them with their feet; whereby they were frequently very mischievous. For the inward claw, or hoof rather, as we may call it, of this avis bisulca, being exceedingly strong, pointed, and angular, I once saw an unfortunate person, who had his belly ripped open by one of these strokes.

"Whilst they are engaged in these combats and assaults, they sometimes make a fierce, angry, and hissing noise, with their throats inflated, and their mouths open; at other times, when less resistance is made, they have a chuckling or cackling noise, as in the poultry kind; and thereby seem to rejoice and laugh, as it were, at the timorousness of their adversary. But during the lonesome part of the night (as if their organs of voice had then attained a quite different tone), they often made a very doleful and hideous noise: which would sometimes be like the roaring of a lion; at other times, it would bear a nearer resemblance to the hoarser voice of other quadrupeds: particularly of the bull and the ox. I have often heard them groan, as if they were in the greatest agonies; an action beautifully alluded to, by the prophet Micah (i. 8.) where it is said, 'I will make a mourning like the jannah, or Ostrich.' Jannah, therefore, andrinonim, names by which the Ostrich is known in the Holy Scriptures, may very properly be deduced from (7) onah, and (1) ronan, words which the lexicographi explain by exclamare, or clamare fortiter. For the noise made by the Ostrich being loud and sonorous, exclamare, or clamare fortiter, may with propriety enough be attributed to it: especially as those words do not seem to denote [vide Ælian. Hist. Anim. lib. v. cap. 51. and lib. vi. cap. 19.] any certain or determined mode of voice or sound, peculiar to any one particular species of animals, but such as may be applicable to them all, to birds as well as to quadrupeds, and other creatures."

These remarks of Dr. Shaw will be justly esteemed both curious and useful: I

shall add to them the following information:-The same Hottentot who is mentioned in the additions to the article Asp in the Dictionary, acquainted me, that the Ostrich, when first started, raises itself on its toes; and expanding its wings, flutters them up and down with great velocity: but as the pursuit is prolonged, the muscles which move the wings become tired, and their motions, which at first were rapid and steady, gradually become weaker, and by starts, till at length the wings hang down, useless, by the sides of the bird [which he expressed by hanging down his arms at full length, motionless, by his sides]; and now she becomes the prey of her pursuers: so that, if her legs are not fatigued by the chase, which must needs be, yet, being unassisted by her wings, they are unable to carry her forward. The poet's description is therefore peculiarly exact, and punctual to the time when she raises up herself on tip-toe, to begin to run away; for then she derides both horse and rider, though, at length, she is wearied, and overtaken.

This, which we take to be the precisely accurate view of the subject, leads to what is, probably, the true interpretation of the first verse of this description, which may be translated and paraphrased thus:-"The wing of [the rinonim, the Screamer] the Ostrich waves; it is elevated, it flutters, and is expanded in all its pride and vigour : but, is it the wing of the Stork ?-Surely not; as, first, it will not raise the Ostrich, as the stork is raised, high in the heavens, and out of sight of men :-Secondly, it will not bear the Ostrich from country to country, at periodical times :-Thirdly, the wing of the Stork is capable of maintaining flight for two or three days together; not so that of the Ostrich, which, after a chase of four or five hours, becomes absolutely useless: that is to say, in plainer language, the Ostrich may flutter her beautiful feathers, but her pinions will not enable her to soar aloft; whereas, the Stork is of much plainer plumage, but of infinitely more powerful wing."

Who confides to the bare earth her eggs, and warms them on the naked dust: but is so timorous when startled, she forgets that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may smash them: she treats her offspring with hardness, as if they were not her own; her excessive fears render her anxious labours fruitless, by wearing them away, overpowering them, because God hath withheld wisdom from her, and hath not imparted understanding to her.

We could like to transpose the ideas of the last verse to a connection with the first, as thus:-The wing of the Ostrich is elevated and vibrating; but is it of equal powers to the wing of the Stork? Notwithstanding this, when she rises on her feet, her velocity is such, that she derides the rapid horse and his skilful rider. This is not offered for adoption: nevertheless, it may assist the reader in perceiving the true import of this hitherto embarrassing description; which certainly is not properly referred to "the peacock ;" as in our translation.

This bird is described as ( BеTH IONCH) Lev. xi. 16. "the daughter of the Ostrich" [IONEH], Deut xiv. 15.; Isaiah xiii. 21.; xxxiv. 13.; xliii. 20.; Jer. 1. 39. Micah i. 8. In these places (and in some others) our translation renders "owl:" but, let it be remembered, that the owl is not a desert bird, but rather resides in the neighbourhood of human labours, whether in the forest or in rustic habitations: moreover, that it is not the companion of serpents: whereas, in these passages, the ioneh is associated with deserts; dry, extensive, thirsty deserts, and with serpents which are their natural inhabitants.

[It should not, however, be allowed to pass without notice, that Linnæus, and his school, refer this Beth Ioneh to the Strix Bubo, in opposition to Bochart, the LXX. and the Arabic. Certainly, the Screech Owl is a night bird, and its screams passed for ill omens among the ancients: a superstition not yet extinct.]