146 



ORIGIN OF THE AMERICAN NEGRO. 



absolutely forbidden. It is also proposed to establish elephant 

 farms in the Congo State, as has been done by the English with 

 ostriches in South Africa. 



When the demands of fashion for plumes and the careless 

 slaughter of the great birds began to threaten the extermination 

 of the ostrich, clever men in South Africa decided to domesticate 

 the valuable producers of the big feathers, and raise them more 

 carefully, for profit. So it was that a new industry was created. 

 Eggs were obtained and hatched, the young birds carefully reared, 

 and though the first experiments were carried on at a loss, it was 



THE OSTRICH OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



not long before the milliners of the whole world were drawing their 

 supply of plumes from the ostrich farms of Cape Colony and Natal. 

 The trade now has reached such proportions that in a single year 

 ostrich feathers to the value of more than $3,000,000 have been 

 exported from South Africa. 



