WONDERFUL FEATHERS. 
£100 FOR A FEATHER. 
From time to time very strange stories and extra- 
ordinary adventures 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 
oj)inion, even when I felt that I could not agree with the 
narrator, not wishing to have a disagreeable controversy, 
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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