The emu, a bird extremely common in Paraguay, is so well known in Europe
as to render a description of its figure unnecessary. I will however
briefly relate its peculiarities, which no one will dislike to be made
acquainted with.
The emu is ranked amongst birds, because it is winged, though it makes
use of its wings, which are too weak for the weight of so large a body,
not to fly with, but to assist itself in walking, like sails and oars,
especially when the wind blows in a favourable direction, for when it is
contrary they retard its course. To pursue this bird is extremely
difficult, for it not only runs with the utmost swiftness, but escapes
by turning and winding about. Emus, which fly the very shadow of a man,
are seldom caught by persons on foot, unless they be in such numbers as
to surround these birds, and take them as it were in the toils. When
standing upright, they reach to the head of the tallest man, which is
owing to the length of their legs and neck, for their head is very
small. They have little eyes overshadowed with large eyebrows. Their
body is equal to that of a lamb in weight. Their flesh is much sought
and praised by the Indians, and is generally very fat. The Spaniards,
neglecting the rest of the flesh, eagerly devour the wings, and think
them the best part of the emu. I have eaten them myself sometimes, but a
nausea which they created in my stomach gave me a disgust to that food.
The Abipones make themselves bags, purses, and cushions of emus' skins.
The skin which covers the rump they use for little hats. Great and
various are the uses of their feathers: for of them are made fly-flaps,
fans, and skreens, which both the better sort of Spaniards, and the
Abiponian women, in riding, place before the sun, that their faces may
not be tanned with the heat. To the hinder part of their saddles, the
Indians of every nation fasten the longer emu feathers, which, moving as
the horse moves, serve to drive away gad-flies, hornets, and gnats. All
the female emus of one neighbourhood deposit their eggs in one place,
and the chickens are hatched by the sun's heat, without any other care.
The young ones are fed by the males, who break the eggs that are still
full, and employ them in feeding the chickens already hatched—thus
brothers unborn are devoured by those that have but just seen the light.
Sometimes more than sixty or a hundred eggs are found in the same nest,
and are eaten both by Spaniards and Indians, either fried or boiled, but
are digested slowly and with difficulty if wine be not added to the
repast. They often afforded me a sumptuous banquet in travelling through
deserts. One egg is enough to satisfy many persons, for the contents of
thirty hens' eggs may be poured into the shell of one emu's egg. The
shell of the emu's egg is strong, and may be used for various purposes
as a potter's vessel. Emus feed on grass, wheat, fruits, or any trash
they meet with; but if they imprudently swallow iron or bone, they
afterward void it quite undigested, and in no way altered. When taken
young they are easily tamed, and walk up and down the streets or yards,
like dogs and hens, suffer children to play with them without fear, and
never run away, though the plain be close by, and in sight. There is
scarcely any Indian town in which you do not see tame emus of this kind.
You must know, moreover, that emus differ in size and habits, in
different tracts of land: for those that inhabit the plains of
Buenos-Ayres and Tucuman, are larger, and have black, white, and grey
feathers: those near to the straits of Magellan are smaller and more
beautiful; for their white feathers are tipped with black at the
extremity, and their black ones, in like manner, terminate in white, and
make excellent ornaments for the hats and helmets of Europeans. The
higher orders amongst the Spaniards, also, greatly prize skreens made of
these feathers.
Footnote 1:
The American ostrich differs a little from the African.