THE TRAFFIC IN FEATHERS 



clusively for its feather product. These birds were 

 formerly found wild in Arabia, southwestern Persia, 

 and practically the whole of Africa. In diminishing 

 numbers they are still to be met with in these regions, 

 especially in the unsettled parts of Africa north of the 

 Orange River. From early times the plumes of 

 these avian giants have been in demand for head 

 decorations, and for centuries the people of Asia and 

 Africa killed the birds for this purpose. They were 

 captured chiefly by means of pitfalls, for a long- 

 legged bird which in full flight can cover twenty-five 

 feet at a stride is not easily overtaken, even with the 

 Arabs' finest steeds. 



So far as there is any record, young Ostriches were 

 first captured and enclosed with a view of rearing 

 them for profit in the year 1857. This occurred in 

 South Africa. During the years which have since 

 elapsed, the raising of Ostriches and the exportation 

 of their plumes has become one of the chief business 

 enterprises of South Africa. Very naturally people 

 in other parts of the world wished to engage in a 

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