436 Gland upoti the Rump of Birds. 



he can ncm produce a tailless hen, " after a long search." 

 On this fact (?) he now bases his theory : query, on what did it 

 rest before? for he has held his strange doctrine some time. 

 His former arguments I had demolished : so this sacred hen 

 had to arrive just in time, and most propitiously, to prop 

 up a little longer the tottering theory of the author of the 

 Wanderings. 



Will Mr. Waterton be so kind as to tell me what purpose 

 the oil gland is intended to answer, if it be not to supply oil 

 wherewith to anoint the feathers of birds ; and, also, may I 

 request of him (and "I'll have no" equivocations), to save 

 me the trouble of enumerating how many of my arguments 

 he has found it convenient to pass over heretofore ? — Francis 

 Orpen Morris. Lendal, York, June, 1836, 



P.S. — I must now take some short notice of his last grandi- 

 loquent epistle [p. 323 — 326.] ; and, if he had kindly studied 

 how he might best save me expense of time, ink, steel pen, 

 and paper, he could not have gained that laudable object 

 more securely than by thundering those anathemas against 

 me in his last most empty production. I thank him for his 

 gentlemanly courtesy, and will proceed accordingly in my 

 easy task. As usual, he has left all my arguments entirely 

 unanswered ; and, to show us how consistent a wanderer (away 

 from the subject) he can be, has added to " Old Nicholas 

 Pesce," the "Ass Wouralia," and some borrowed Spanish, 

 to monkeys, Malay cocks and hens* and lice ; and has wound 

 up the wondrous whole with Don Quixote, Fraser, a toma- 

 hawk, dapple, a roquelaire, and a honey-pot, " all to make 

 the haggis good ; " of course, never forgetting a quotation 

 from one of his favourite authors, Virgil or Ovid, with whom 

 he never fails to tells us his acquaintance on every con- 

 venient or inconvenient occasion ; and has actually thought 

 it necessary to inform your readers that he studied at the 

 Jesuits' College at Stonyhurst. He might have saved himself 

 the trouble of giving them that important piece of intel- 

 ligence. I will explain my meaning. He comes upon the 

 stage to ridicule, firstly, Buffon; secondly, one Monsieur 

 Herbert; and, thirdly, your most humble servant. I dare 

 say he has laughed heartily at his own wit; and I think he 

 will find about as many of your readers to laugh with him, 

 as have embraced his mode of stuffing birds, or his outlandish 

 doctrine about the oil gland, and " the promenade." Mr. 

 Waterton argues, in the way of a question, that it is absurd to 

 suppose that the dipper can walk under water, because other 

 birds, who are true aquatics, cannot. He must be hard 

 pressed for an argument indeed. Why, Sir, he might just as 



