atch it from the
men's hands. When on the march, they stalked gravely along by the side
of the waggons.

"What is the value of an ostrich?" Dick asked Mr Harvey one day.

"An ostrich of about three or four months old," Mr Harvey replied, "is
worth from 30 pounds to 50 pounds. A full-grown cock and two hens, the
stock with which most small settlers begin ostrich-farming, are worth
from 200 pounds to pounds. Each hen will lay about fifty eggs in a
year, so that if only half are reared and sold at the rate of 20 pounds
apiece, which is a low price, at three weeks old, there is a good profit
upon them. The young birds increase in value at the rate of about 3
pounds per month. The feathers are generally sold by weight; fine
plumes go from seventy to ninety to the pound, and fetch from 40 to 50
pounds. The feathers of the wild birds are worth a third more than
those of the tame ones, as they are stronger. The quantity of feathers
sold is astonishing. One firm in Port Elizabeth often buys 10,000
pounds' weight of ostrich feathers per week. Of course these are not
all first-class plumes, and the prices range down as low as 3 pounds, or
50 shillings for the poorest kind."

"Where do they get water out here in the desert?"

"They have no difficulty here," Mr Harvey replied, "for an ostrich
thinks nothing of going twenty or thirty miles; but they require to
drink very seldom."

"How many feathers can be plucked from each bird a year?"

"About three quarters of a pound of first-class feathers, besides the
inferior sorts. There are now such quantities of ostriches in the
colony, that the price of feathers has gone down materially, and is now
not so high as the figures I have given you. The highest class
feathers, however, still maintain their price, and are likely to do so,
for the demand for feathers in Europe increases at as rapid a rate as
does the production."

"I suppose they could not be kept in England?" Dick asked; "for there
must be a splendid profit on such farming."

"No," Mr Harvey replied; "they want above all things a dry climate.
Warmth is of course important, but even this is less essential than
dryness. They may be reared in England under artificial conditions, but
they would never grow up strong and healthy in this way, and would no
doubt be liable to disease--besides, as even in their native country you
see that the feathers deteriorate in strength and diminish in value in
domesticated bird