14 DORKING FOWLS. 



him ; and in a storm of raging and vindictive de- 

 lirium, and uttering the most horrid imprecations, 

 he dropped down dead. I had hoped to find this 

 one among the thousand fanatical lies which have 

 been coined, on the insane expectation that truth 

 can be advanced by the propagation of falsehood ; 

 but to my sorrowful disappointment, on a late en- 

 quiry among the friends of the deceased miscreant, 

 I found the truth of the horrible story but too 

 probable. 



The DORKING FOWL, so called from a town in 

 Surrey, where probably the variety was first bred, 

 and where, and in its vicinity, they are to be found 

 in great plenty and perfection, is, in the third 

 degree, the largest of our fowls, well-shaped, hav- 

 ing a long capacious body and short legs, and is a 

 plentiful layer. The genuine colour entire white ; 

 chief distinctive mark five claws upon each foot. 

 The white is probably not so pure as that of certain 

 of the dung-hill fowls, nor is the colour of the flesh, 

 that inclining to a yellow, or ivory shade. The 

 Dorking are the species generally made into capons. 



In a late agricultural Survey of the county of 

 Sussex, an attempt is made to deprive Dorking 

 of the honour of originating this famous variety of 

 fowls, with what degree of success it would be a 

 waste of time to enquire ; it is sufficient that we 

 possess such a variety, and to know where to 

 obtain it in perfection. The surveyor pretends that 

 the Dorking fowls are all raised in the Weald 

 of Sussex, and that Horsham is the chief market 

 for them. That their having five claws is by no 



