THE TURKEY. 137 



" In proportion to the abundance or scarcity of 

 food, and its good or bad quality, they are small or 

 large, meagre or fat, and of an excellent or indiffe- 

 rent flavour ; in general, however, their flesh is more 

 delicate, more succulent, and better tasted than 

 that of the tame turkey : they are in the best order 

 late in the autumn, or in the beginning of winter. 

 The Indians value this food so highly when roasted, 

 that they call it ' the white man's dish,' and present 

 it to strangers as the best they can offer. 



" The Indians make much use of their tails as 

 fans ; the women weave their feathers with much art 

 on a loose web made of the rind of the birch -tree, ar- 

 ranging them so as to keep the down on the inside, 

 and exhibit the brilliant surface to the eye. A spe- 

 cimen of this cloth is in the Philadelphia Museum ; 

 it was found enveloping the body of an Indian fe- 

 male, in the great Saltpetre cave of Kentucky." 



We have already mentioned, that the turkey, in 

 a domesticated state, has been distributed to al- 

 most every part of the civilized world ; but, con- 

 trary to the general effect of domestication, it has 

 rather deteriorated than improved in that state. 

 " So far from having gained by the care of man, and 

 the abundance of food accessible in its state of do- 

 mestication, this bird has degenerated, not only in 

 Europe and Asia, but, which is certainly extraordi- 

 nary, even in its native country. The domesticated 

 turkey of America, accustomed as it is to roam in 

 the woods and open fields almost without restraint, 



