She was then put into the cage of the poor
parrot, and hung in our dining-room, to accustom her to society. In a
few days the eggs were hatched, and the poultry-yard had an increase of
fifteen little strangers, who fed greedily on bruised acorns, and soon
became as tame as any of our fowls, though I plucked the large feathers
out of their wings when they were full-grown, lest their wild nature
should tempt them to quit us.
* * * * *
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Francis had soon become tired of playing with the long leaves his
brother had brought him, and they were thrown aside. Fritz happened to
take some of the withered leaves up, which were soft and flexible as a
ribbon, and he advised Francis to make whiplashes of them, to drive the
goats and sheep with, for the little fellow was the shepherd. He was
pleased with the idea, and began to split the leaves into strips, which
Fritz platted together into very good whiplashes. I remarked, as they
were working, how strong and pliant these strips seemed, and, examining
them closely, I found they were composed of long fibres, or filaments,
which made me suspect it to be _Phormium tenax,_ or New Zealand flax, a
most important discovery to us, and which, when I communicated it to my
wife, almost overwhelmed her with joy.
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