THE CRANE KIND. 333 



they assemble by thousands, perched on the trees 

 within and about the village; and are so very 

 clamorous, that the sound is heard at near a mile's 

 distance. The Negroes are fond of their com- 

 pany, and consider their society as a gift of 

 Heaven, as a protection from accidental evils. 

 The French, who are admitted to this part of the 

 coast, cannot, without some degree of discontent, 

 see such a quantity of game untouched, and ren- 

 dered useless by the superstition of the natives : 

 they now and then privately shoot some of them, 

 when at a convenient distance from the village, 

 and hide them in the long grass, if they perceive 

 any of the Negroes approaching ; for they would 

 probably stand a chance of being ill treated, if 

 the blacks discovered their sacred birds thus un- 

 mercifully destroyed. 



Sometimes, in their wild state, they are shot 

 by mariners ; and their young, which run exces- 

 sively fast, are often taken. Labat has frequent- 

 ly taken them with nets properly extended round 

 the places they breed in. When their long legs 

 are entangled in the meshes, they are then un- 

 qualified to make their escape ; but they still 

 continue to combat with their destroyer, and the 

 old ones, though seized by the head, will scratch 

 with their claws; and these, though seemingly 

 inoffensive, very often do mischief. When they 

 are fairly disengaged from the net, they never- 

 theless preserve their natural ferocity; they re- 

 fuse all nourishment ; they peck and combat with 

 their claws at every opportunity. The fowler is 

 therefore under the necessity of destroying them 



