VICISSITUDES OF MAIAYS. 



333 



in one nest. Some few years back a pen of the same 

 variety of Malays were siiccessfullv exhibited at several 

 shows, by a member of the Council of the Birmingham 

 Poultry Exhibition, under the name of "Rangoons"; 

 they were identical with the breed I once had, and were 

 much larger than our present Malays. 



The fine size and character of those early 

 Malays was due to the abundance of imported 

 stock, which frequently came over in the East 

 India Company's vessels, and to an extent that 

 made the fowls then quite common in the 

 neighbourhood of the London Docks. With 

 the fancy for Cochins, this nearly ceased, and 

 such a long-limbed breed specially suffered from 

 in-breeding, as it was then carried on by most 

 of those who practised it at all. Thus it came 

 about that in 1872 we were compelled to write 

 of the fowls then known as fully one-third less 

 in height and weight than the figures given by 

 Mr. Hewitt, and as appearing small in body 

 rather than large. Judges also lost hold of their 

 points ; so that the breed was actually described 

 in the Standard of that day as red-eyed, and we 

 have seen at Birmingham a hen win second 

 prize which was short in the leg, flat in the 

 back, with a spread tail, and to crown all, a 

 single comb ! More on this head is stated in 

 the notes below, but it may be added that it was 

 in order to recover the lost size and constitution, 

 that at that date we strongly advised crossing 

 with the Indian Game of Cornwall, which was 

 actually far larger and more vigorous than 

 Malays were then, and with enough Malay 

 character in all except height and comb to 

 make such a cross quite legitimate. The advice 

 was followed, and to this cross was largely due 

 the temporary loss of type, for a few years, 

 alluded to below ; but it did recover size, and 

 renewed much of the lost constitution, and there 

 can be little doubt that during the interval until 

 further importations took place, it saved Malays 

 from extinction or something near it. Later on 

 fresh stock was received, some from India and 

 some from Australia, and stature as well as size 

 was fully recovered. A magnificent cock shown 

 by Mr. De Courcy Peele at the Palace show of 

 1900, had a poor comb, and was very unorthodo.x 

 in colour (a sort of brown breast spangled with 

 black), but in size and character was one of 

 the most remarkable birds we have ever beheld 

 during more than forty years. 



The following notes on Malays are con- 

 tributed by Mr. Edgar Branford, of Woodbridge, 

 Suffolk, well known both as an exhibitor and 

 specialist judge of this breed. 



" It is with feelings of great pleasure that I 

 furnish a few notes on Malays. First, because 

 I regard it as an honour to be associated with 



Mr. Wright's well-known work ; and secondly, 

 because of a nearly lifelong attachment to a 

 fine old breed. Pedigrees in poultry yards are 

 no longer popular ; but personally I must con- 

 fess to preferring creatures about me that can 

 speak of their ancestors without a blush. Many 

 people abuse my fowls, but few question their 

 individuality, and none deny their claim to long 

 descent. Once seen they will never be taken for 

 anything else. In the first issue of Tlie Illustrated 

 Book of Poultry, the Rev. A. G. Brooke told 

 us of a gentleman who ' had no sympathy with 

 Malays.' Probably the variety has as many 

 detractors as of yore ; but now as then it 

 attracts a portion (shall we say the elect?), of 

 fancy's followers, and now as then, when the 

 fancy fever takes the Malayan form it is apt to 

 prove a chronic ailment. The names of old- 

 time votaries crowd upon me as I write : Brooke, 

 Hawkins, Ridley, Hinton, Fairlie, Terdrey, 

 Owen, Frayn, and Huxtable ; and all I think 

 still stick to the ship save those who have, alas ! 

 gone over to the great majority. The mushroom 

 man, indeed, is perhaps unlikely to persevere 

 with Malays, for their little idiosyncrasies often 

 prove trying, such as the uncertain temper of 

 the cocks — that of the hens is consistent enough, 

 if none too amiable — the hang-dog appearance 

 of the birds when a bit out of sorts, and the 

 tendency of one's best cockerels to go off their 

 pins just when one is counting upon cups and 

 specials. 



"During the half-century or so which may 

 be said to cover the modern fancy, this breed 

 has had its ups and downs, now rejoicing in 



separate classes, and anon banished 

 Changes in to the colder atmosphere of the 

 Malays. ' Any other variety.' In quality also 



the birds, like their fortunes, have 

 fluctuated, and a short resume of these latter 

 changes, so far as they come within my own 

 knowledge, may perhaps be of interest. Early in 

 the 'seventies our breed had not emerged from 

 the shadow which fell upon it with the advent 

 of the Cochin. Malays were in the hands of few 

 breeders, and those few appear to have been 

 compelled to resort to in-breeding, which 

 resulted in loss of size, though shape and 

 character were retained. Five years later the 

 birds filled the pens better, but the growth 

 was mainly In breadth, while a square Anglo- 

 Saxon sort of look pervaded them, strongly 

 suggestive of some shameful viesalliance. Then 

 for a time came improvement, and in the early 

 'eighties were to be seen specimens with old- 

 fashioned necks and thighs, and presenting 

 quite the cut-up swashbuckler appearance so 

 characteristic of the breed. 



