294 THE WILD GOOSE. 



natural historian in the world thus speaks of his obli- 

 gations to this bird : " A young goose is generally 

 reckoned very good eating, yet the feathers of this 

 bird still increase its value. I feel my obligations 

 to this animal every word I write, for however defi- 

 cient a man's head may be, his pen is nimble enough 

 upon every occasion ; it is happy, indeed, for poor 

 authors, that it requires no great effort to put it in 

 motion. But the feathers of this bird are still as 

 valuable in another capacity, as they make the softest 

 and the warmest beds to sleep on." 



Of goose feathers most of our beds in Europe are 

 composed (or supposed to be by convention) ; in the 

 countries bordering on the Levant, and in all Asia, the 

 use of them is unknown. How it happens that the 

 ancients had not the use of feather-beds, is surprising. 

 Pliny tells us, indeed, that they made bolsters of fea- 

 thers to lay their heads on ; and this serves as a proof 

 that they turned feathers to no other uses. As good 

 feathers are a very valuable commodity, great numbers 

 of geese are kept tame in the fens of Lincolnshire, 

 which are plucked once or twice a year. The feathers 

 of Somersetshire are most in esteem; those of Ire- 

 land are reckoned the worst. Hudson's Bay also 

 furnishes very fine feathers, supposed to be of the 

 same kind. The down of the swan is brought from 

 Dantzic. The wild goose always retains the same 

 marks. These marks are seldom found in the tame ; 

 but both invariably retain a white ring round their 

 tail, which shows they are both descended from the 



