WILD TURKEY. 63 



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

 it to strangers, as the best they can offer. 



The first unquestionable description of the turkey was written 

 by Oviedo, in 1525, in the summary of his history of the Indies. 

 This bird was sent from Mexico to Spain early in the sixteenth 

 century. From Spain it was introduced into England, in 1524. 

 Turkeys were taken to France in the reign of Francis the First, 

 whence they spread into Germany, Italy, &c. A few, however, 

 had been carried to the latter country, by the Spaniards, some 

 years previously. The first turkey, eaten in France, appears to 

 have been served up at the wedding banquet of Charles the Ninth, 

 in the year 1570. Since that period they have been bred with so 

 much care, that, in England, as we read in ancient chronicles, 

 their rapid increase rendered them attainable at country feasts, 

 where they were a much-esteemed dish. As early as 1585, Euro- 

 peans conveyed them to all their colonies, and thus were they 

 gradually introdued into Asia, Africa, and even Oceanica. 



In connection with the peculiar character of this bird, we may 

 advantageously quote the sentiments of the great Franklin, who 

 expressed a regret that the turkey should not have been preferred 

 to the bald eagle, as an emblem of the United States. Certainly 

 this eagle is a tyrannical and pusillanimous bird, by no means an 

 appropriate representative of a great and magnanimous nation, 

 as was the eagle, chosen by the Romans. 



Those who have not observed the turkey in its wild state, have 

 only seen its deteriorated progeny, which are greatly inferior in 

 size and beauty. So far from having gained by the care of man, 

 and the abundance of food accessible in its state of domestication, 

 this bird has degenerated, not only in Europe and Asia, but what 

 is certainly extraordinary, even in its native country. 



The domesticated turkey of America, accustomed as it is, to 

 roam in the woods and fields, almost without restraint, is in no 

 respect superior to that of the European poultry-yard ; I have, 

 however, seen several very beautiful ones from Lancaster County, 

 Pennsylvania, and Sussex County, New Jersey, that were said to 

 be a cross breed between the wild cock and the tame hen. This 

 crossing often occurs in countries where wild and tame turkeys 

 are to be found ; and such is the influence of slavery, even upon 

 the turkey, that the robust inhabitant of the forest, will drive his 

 degenerate kinsfolk from their own food, and from their females, 

 being generally welcomed by the latter, and by their owners, who 

 well knew the advantages of such a connection. 



The produce of this commixture is much esteemed by epicures, 



