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Fast on her foremost pursuer she gaineth,
Vainly each nerve and each muscle he straineth,
Vainly, with nostrils dilated, he drinketh
Draughts of the wind* — lo, he reeleth, he sinketh !
Mark how the wile of the sportsman appeareth !†
Yonder white rock, that the panting bird neareth,
Shelters a courser as fresh as the morning —
Rider and roan, for the race they are burning.
On like a whirlwind the wild hunter rushes,
Now, now, the plumes of the victim he brushes !
Too soon with triumph his dark eye is bright'ning !
Far, far before him she sweeps like the lightning !
* Shérb-el-Ríh, wind-drinker, is an epithet applied to the swiftest
horses.
† The ostrich has very little cunning, never doubles in her flight, but
depends on her speed alone, and runs in a straight course. Several horse-
men post themselves at distances of about a league from each other on the
line of flight ; and when one stops, the next takes up the pursuit, and thus
the bird is constantly chased by fresh horses. Of course the last horse-
man secures the prize.
