THE POULTRY KIND. 9 



extrauidmary bird. When it appears with its tail expanded, there is 

 none of the feathered creation can vie with it for beauty ; yet the hor- 

 rid scream of its voice serves to abate the pleasure we find from view- 

 ing it ; and still more, its insatiable gluttony and spirit of depredation, 

 make it one of the most noxious domestics that man has taken under 

 his protection. 



Our first peacocks were brought from the East-Indies ; and we are 

 assured that they are still found in vast flocks in a wild state in the 

 islands of Java and Ceylon. So beautiful a bird, and one esteemed 

 such a delicacy at the tables of the luxurious, could not be permitted 

 to continue long at liberty in its distant retreats. So early as the 

 days of Solomon, we find in his navies, among the articles imported 

 from the East, apes and peacocks. JElian relates that they were 

 brought into Greece from some barbarous country, and were held in 

 such high esteem among them that a male and female were valued at 

 above thirty pounds of our money. We are told also that when Alex- 

 ander was in India, he found them flying wild in vast numbers on the 

 banks of the river Hyarotis, and was so struck with their v beauty that 

 he laid a severe fine and punishment on all who should kill or disturb 

 them. Nor are we to be surprised at this, as the Greeks were so 

 much struck with the beauty of this bird, when first brought among 

 them, that every person paid a fixed price for seeing it ; and several 

 people came to Athens, from Lacedaemon and Thessaly, purely to sa- 

 tisfy their curiosity. 



It was probably first introduced into the West, merely on account 

 of its beauty ; but mankind, from contemplating its figure, soon came 

 to think of serving it up for a different entertainment. Aufidius 

 Hurco stands charged by Pliny with being the first who fatted up the 

 peacock for the feasts of the luxurious. Whatever there may be of 

 delicacy in the flesh of a young peacock, it is certain an old one is 

 . very indifferent eating ; nevertheless, there is no mention made of 

 choosing the youngest : it is probable they were killed indiscrimi- 

 nately, the beauty of the feathers in some measure stimulating the 

 appetite. Hortensius, the orator, was the first who served them up 

 in an entertainment at Rome, and from that time they were consider- 

 ed as one of the greatest ornaments of every feast. Whether the 

 Roman method of cookery, which was much higher than ours, might 

 not have rendered them more palatable than we find them at present. 

 I cannot tell ; but certain it is, they talk of the peacock as being the 

 first of viands. 



Its fame for delicacy, however, did not continue very long ; for we 

 find in the time of Francis the First, that it was a custom to serve up 

 peacocks to the tables of the great, with an intention not to be eaten, 

 but only to be seen. Their manner was, to strip off the skin, and then 

 preparing the body with the warmest spices, they covered it up again 

 in its former skin, with all its plumage in full display, and no way in- 

 jured by the preparation. The bird thus prepared, was often preserv- 

 ed for many years without corrupting ; and it is asserted of the pea- 

 cock's flesh, that it .keeps longer unputrefied than that of any other 

 animal. To give a higher zest to these entertainments, on weddings 

 particularly, they filled the bird's beak and throat with cotton anc 

 camphire, which they set on fire, to amuse and delight the cor.ipunj 



VOL. III. H 



