CHAPTER XXV

THE OSTRICH-FARM. A NIGHT AT SEA

THE time for my departure from Kauai, the garden island, was near at hand. Only one day more remained, and then I must bid adieu to such hospitable friends and such a genial clime as had made my stay and tour one continuous round of pleasure-excursions. It made me sad to contemplate leaving so delightful a place, and I still look back with regret to the happy hours spent in this earthly paradise.

One point of interest I had not yet visited, and that was the ostrich farm. Ostrich farming is interesting to nearly every one, and especially so to a man who has a wife and two daughters to supply with millinery.

The journey to the farm was arranged by my friends Dr. Goodhue and Mr. Farley. Dr. Crane, a tourist like myself, was to accompany me, and we had a small Portuguese boy, mounted on a diminutive pony, for a guide. The little fellow assured us that he had crossed the mountains to the farm a dozen times, and that there was no danger of his losing the way. Mounted on spirited horses, we dashed across the

lava-strewn plain, and started toward the great ridge or mountain chain that lies between Hoary Head and the heights farther west. Our guide's diminutive pony was a tough little creature and capable of carrying his small rider farther over the plain in an hour than our horses, consequently we were sometimes severely taxed to keep pace with him.

We descended into a sort of basin at the foot of the mountain, in which is a lake of fresh water of considerable extent.

Flocks of wild ducks were in the lake or flying about it. Our sporting blood was roused to such an extent that we wished we had provided ourselves with guns.

After leaving the lake, we began to ascend what seemed a rugged, inaccessible mountain, lava-strewn and almost bare of vegetation. Great blocks of stone lay so thick over the mountainside that at first glance it seemed impossible to ascend it. Our little guide, always leads up on among huge

taking the zigzag path, which any very steep mountain, led us boulders and rough stones of monstrous size, which kept one in a constant state of nervous anxiety lest they should topple over on him and crush out his existence. Before we were half-way up the mountain our horses were blowing and almost exhausted, and we were

compelled to pause and let them rest.

When we

glanced from the first resting-place to the top, we seemed to have made no progress whatever.

After a short pause the guide urged his pony on again and we followed, at last reaching the summit. From this point we could see a valley of several hundred acres lying below, surrounded on three sides by mountain ranges, accessible at only two points, and shut in on the third side by the ocean.

Just across the valley appeared a field enclosed by a plain board fence, and a pretty cottage near the beach. From our elevated position we could see the great birds stalking about in the sand.

The ostrich-farm on Kauai is owned by Mr. Charles N. Cooke, of Honolulu, and is managed by Mr. A. H. Turner. Mr. Cook bought out Dr. Trousseau's stock of ostriches on Oahu, and transferred the farm to Kauai.

After giving our horses a few minutes to breathe, we descended the mountain slope by a zigzag path somewhat similar to the one by which we had ascended, and rode across the plain toward the farm. When we came within a few rods of the farm, the large birds raised their wings and fled over the hill, at which Dr. Crane's horse took fright and came near unseating his rider.

Mr. Turner and his wife live a solitary life at the farm, cut off by sea and mountains from all the rest

of the world. They are always glad to see visitors, and we found ourselves welcome. After lunch Mr. Turner showed us some of the specimens of ostrich feathers plucked a month or two before. He also showed us some eggs and the incubator in which the eggs are hatched.

"Since the ostriches were brought here from Honolulu, they have been attacked by a parasite in the stomach which has taken off half of them; but we have found a remedy for that, and they are now in a healthy condition," said Mr. Turner.

When we went to the ostrich paddocks, a monster bird, which owing to his warlike propensities was named John Sullivan, advanced with stately stride, glancing at us first with one eye, then with the other. Flapping his short bunchy wings, he dropped down upon his haunches, and began writhing and twisting his neck and body, going through a system of gyrations that would have puzzled a contortionist.

"Why does he do that?" the doctor asked.

"It is a challenge to fight," Mr. Turner explained. "When two cocks fight they go through similar motions, then approach each other, and each tries to get above the other, so that he can look down upon him. After those preliminaries have been gone through, the battle in earnest begins, which is simply a system of kicking and stamping with the feet."

"Do they bite?"

"Yes, but their bite amounts to nothing. Why, a setting hen can discount the bite of an ostrich any time. Their only weapons are their feet. Their kick is equal to that of a mule, and no pine-board fence can resist their blows. They have been known to break human arms and legs, and even to crush skulls, by a single kick."

Mr. Turner informed us that the ostrich will hatch about three times a year, with about fifteen or sixteen eggs to a setting. Their nests are on the sand, or a basin hollowed out in it.

"Do they let the sun hatch their eggs?" we asked.

"No. That is a mistake some scientists have made. The ostrich never covers up her eggs. She is a faithful sitter. She sits on the eggs all day, and at sunset the male goes and sits on them until the sun rises. He is never a moment tardy."

We were shown the plucking-pen into which the ostriches are driven, fastened so they cannot hurt themselves or any one else, and their feathers plucked. This is done twice a year. A perfect African ostrich has been known to yield $200 worth of feathers at a plucking, tho the Hawaiian ostriches have never yielded such profits as yet.

To the question of what food was given the birds, Mr. Turner answered:

"Sorghum, sunflower seed, corn, alfalfa, and bones