THE TURKEY. 119 



of Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois, and the 

 vast expanse of territory on the Missisippi and Mis- 

 souri, as far as the forests extend, are most abun- 

 dantly supplied with this valuable game, which forms 

 an important part of the subsistence of the hunter 

 and traveller in the wilderness. It is not probable 

 that its range extends to or beyond the Rocky 

 Mountains. The Mandan Indians, who a few years 

 ago visited the city of Washington, considered the 

 Turkey as one of the greatest curiosities they had 

 seen, and prepared a skin of one to carry home for 

 exhibition *. 



There can be little doubt that we are indebted to 

 the Spaniards for the introduction of the Turkey to 

 Europe, and that it would be brought from Mexico 

 upon the discovery of the New World. From Spain 

 a bird of such value, and so easily domesticated, 

 would easily find its way to Britain ; and although 

 we cannot trace its introduction, we may confidently 

 assert that it was not before 1525, and most pro- 

 bably between that and the year 1530. They do 

 not appear in the bill of fare in the celebrated feast 

 of Archbishop Neville ; and the first published no- 

 tice of the bird is in a " History of the Indies," by 

 Oviedo, written in 1525. It appears from that tra- 

 veller, that it was then an inhabitant of the greater 

 islands, as well as of the mainland, and he speaks of 

 them as peacocks ; for, being a new bird to him, he 



* Bonaparte Continuation of Wilson. 



