64 FARMING FOR LADIES. [chap. hi. 



excitement of the passion in which he had 

 indulged. In England it has now fallen much 

 into disuse, from the low-lived gambling with 

 which it was latterly attended ; but in China, 

 Sumatra, and other parts of the East Indies, 

 there is such a mania for it, that men have 

 been known not only to stake the whole of 

 their property, but even to sell their wives 

 and children into slavery in payment for the 

 loss of a battle. Among persons of refine- 

 ment, the "sport," as it is usually termed, 

 is viewed as barbarous and cruel : but, al- 

 though not meaning to uphold it as a pas- 

 time for polished society, we must yet observe, 

 that the birds apparently entertain a degree 

 of innate hatred for each other, which they 

 indulge with great ferocity without any 

 extraneous excitement ; and, comparatively 

 speaking, we cannot look upon it as so cruel as 

 hare-hunting, nor so barbarous as the Spanish 

 taste for bull-fighting, in witnessing which 

 ladies of the highest rank, and doubtless en- 

 dowed with feminine feelings of humanity, 

 seem to have great enjoyment. Nor should 

 it be forgotten, that fowls of every breed 

 require no other inducement to a battle than 



