252 KLOOF AND KARROO. 



feathers had not yet fallen to the wretchedly low 

 prices they now command, nor had the birds them- 

 selves lost much of the fictitious value they assumed 

 during the extremest rage of the ostrich mania. 

 About that time, ;^i,ooo had actually been paid for 

 a pair of breeding birds with a nest of eighteen 

 eggs ! ;^500 was not by any means an uncommon 

 price for a pair of really good breeders ; while from 

 ;^200 to ;^300 were common enough prices. The 

 sum of ;^82 has been known to be realised from the 

 plucking of a few feathers only. But what a crash 

 was there when the bubble burst, and the inflation 

 was at an end. The Colony has not yet overgot 

 its effects, which will be remembered with soreness 

 for many a long day. Now (1889) birds are almost 

 unsaleable, and good breeding birds may be bought 

 for -£"5 a pair, and chicks for a few shillings each, 

 instead of from £y los. to ^fio, as soon as they 

 emerged from the eggs. Now, indeed, is the time 

 to go into ostrich farming, for at the present low 

 price of stock, it can assuredly be made to pay. 



It has been commonly supposed that the 

 domestication of ostriches began in 1864, from 

 which time ostrich farming practically takes its rise ; 

 such is not the case. Kolben, that quaint and 

 entertaining traveller, distinctly mentions having 

 seen ostriches tame and in confinement at the 

 Cape in or about 1705. It would seem, however, 

 that the practice fell into obscurity, to be revived 

 again with astounding and unexpected success 

 160 years later. It was a fortunate thing for 

 these great birds that domestication set in at this 

 later period, or a few years would probably have 

 seen their complete extinction within the limits 



