WATER-FOWL. 



597 



for safety, he returns to his female and her 

 brood in triumph, clapping his wings, scream- 

 ing, and showing all the marks of conscious 

 superiority. It is probable, however, these 

 arts succeed in raising his importance among 

 the tribe where they are displayed ; and it is 

 probable there is not a more respectable ani- 

 mal on earth to a goose than a gander! 



A young goose is generally reckoned very 

 good eating; yet the feathers of this bird still 

 farther increase its value. I feel my obliga- 

 tions to this animal every word I write ; for, 

 however deficient a man's head may be, his 

 pen is nimble enough upon every occasion : 

 it is happy indeed for us, that it requires no 

 great effort to put it in motion. But the fea- 

 thers of this bird are still as valuable in ano- 

 ther capacity, as they make the softest and 

 the warmest beds to sleep on. 



Of goose-feathers most of our beds in Eu- 

 rope are composed ; in the countries border- 

 ing on the Levant, and in all Asia, the use of 

 them is utterly unknown. They there use 

 mattrasses, stuffed with wool, or camel's hair, 

 or cotton ; and the warmth of their climate 

 may perhaps make them dispense with cu- 

 shions of a softer kind. But how it happens 

 that the ancients had not the use of feather- 

 beds, is to me surprising: Pliny tells us, in- 

 deed, that they made bolsters of feathers to 



lay their heads on; and this serves as a 

 proof that they turned feathers to no other 

 uses. 



As feathers are a very valuable commodi- 

 ty, great numbers of geese are kept tame in 

 the fens in Lincolnshire, which are plucked 

 once or twice a year. These make a con- 

 siderable article of commerce. The feathers 

 of Somersetshire are most in esteem; those 

 of Ireland are reckoned the worst. Hudson's 

 Bay also furnishes very fine feathers, supposed 

 to be of the goose kind. The down of the 

 swan is brought from Dantzic. The same 

 place also sends us great quantities of the 

 feathers of the cock and hen ; but Greenland, 

 Iceland, and Norway, furnish the best fea- 

 thers of all : and in this number we may 

 reckon the Eider down, of which we shall 

 take notice in its place. The best method 

 of curing feathers, is to lay them in a room, 

 in an open exposure to the sun, and when 

 dried to put them into bags, and beat them 

 well with poles to get the dust off. But, after 

 all, nothing will prevent, for a time, the hea- 

 vy smell which arises from the putrefaction 

 of the oil contained in every feather ; no ex- 

 posure will draw this off, how long soever it 

 be continued ; they must be lain upon, which 

 is the only remedy ; and for this reason, old 

 feathers are much more valuable than new. 



CHAPTER CXXXIV. 



OF THE DUCK, AND ITS VARIETIES. 



THE Tame Duck is the most easily rear- 

 ed of all our domestic animals. The very in- 

 stincts of the young ones direct them to their 

 favourite element; and though they are con- 

 ducted by a hen, yet they despise the admo- 

 nitions of their leader. 



This serves as an incontestable proof that 

 all birds have their manners rather from na- 

 ture than education. A falcon pursues the 

 partridge, not because it is taught by the old 

 one, but because its appetites make their im- 

 portunate call for animal food : the cuckoo 

 follows a very different trade from that which 



its nurse endeavoured to teach it; and, if we 

 may credit Pliny, in time destroys its instruc- 

 tor: animals of the duck kind also follow 

 their appetites, not their tutor, and come to 

 all their various perfections without any guide. 

 All the arts possessed by man, are the result 

 of accumulated experience; all the arts of 

 inferior animals are self-taught, and scarcely 

 one acquired by imitation. 



It is usual with the good women to lay duck- 

 eggs under a hen, because she hatches them 

 better than the original parent would have 

 done. The duck seems to be a heedless in- 



4Q* 



