WONDERFUL FEATHEES. 



£100 FOR A FEATHER. 



From time to time very strange stories and extra- 

 ordinary adventvTres are related to me by the many 

 travellers and others with whom I come in contact, some 

 of them bringing from abroad wild beasts, birds, or 

 reptiles, and to add to the value of the interest of their 

 specimens a long yarn is frequently spun. I have always 

 been very careful, I may say guarded, in offering an 

 opinion, even when I felt that I could not agree with the 

 narrator, not wishing to have a disagreeable controversj% 

 especially with a stranger. 



It happened, however, that one day I met some 

 American gentlemen, among whom was one who had been 

 travelling in Japan, and who talked loudly about the 

 fowls he had obtained in that country, with feathers in 

 their tails that measured 17 ft. in length. This state- 

 ment appeared to me so incredible that I felt dis- 

 posed not to let it pass without making some remark. 

 Not wishing to hurt his feelings by throwing any doubt 

 upon his statement, I said, " I have collected feathers for 

 many years, and have some of the most beautiful as well 

 as many large and long ones, but none approaching 17 ft. 

 in length. If I could procure a feather of that length, 

 I should be quite willing to give one hundred pounds 

 for it." His friends looked at him with some degree 

 of astonishment, and at the same time asked me if I 



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