THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



CHAPTER V. 



ASIATIC FOWLS. 



UNDER this head we class the Malay, the Co- 

 chin-China, the Shanghai, and the Brahmapu- 

 tra. These fowls all take their names from the 

 country and rivers of their nativity. There is 

 some difference in the orthography of the name 

 of the latter, some spelling it Brahma Footer, 

 Brahmaputra, Burrampootra. We shall adopt 

 the second, and abbreviate it for convenience' 

 bake to Brahma. 



The Malay fowl takes its name from a town 

 or province of that name, situated on the Straits 

 of Malacca, in the most southern portion of 

 Asia. 



Cochin, from which the Cochin-China fowl 

 derives its name, is a sea-port-town in south- 

 eastern Asia, on the coast of Malabar. 



Shanghai is a port in China, from which many 

 of the Asiatic fowls are shipped ; hence the 

 name of " Shanghai" is given them. 



Brahmaputra, whence the name of the fowl is 

 derived, is a great river of southern Asia. 



During the last twelve years many importa- 

 tions of fowls have been made from India, Chi- 

 na and elsewhere, that are much superior in 

 size, laying qualities, and in their general do- 

 mestic habits to our common fowls. Among 

 the Asiatic fowls the Shanghais have occupied 

 a prominent position ; not, however, as the best 

 among us, as many have contended, but as a 

 fowl in many respects superior to our common 

 breed. 



The Brahmas are generally acknowledged 

 to be at the head of the list in regard to size, 

 weighing at maturity from twenty-two to twen- 

 ty-six pounds per pair. 



There seems to be considerable difference of 

 opinion as to whether the Cochins and Shang- 

 hais are varieties or distinct breeds. " There 



is a doubt," says the Rev. Mr. Wingfield, author 

 of the "Poultry Book," "which had better be 

 removed from the very threshold, usually con- 

 veyed in the question ' Are Cochin-China and 

 Shanghai fowls the same?' We have always 

 entertained the opinion that they are; and as 

 we have invariably found that fowls imported 

 from China into this country, whether feather- 

 legged or plain-legged, whether dark-plumaged 

 or light-plumaged, came hither, directly or indi- 

 rectly, either from Shanghai or its vicinity, we 

 have long since concluded that Cochin-China is 

 a name altogether misapplied in this variety. 

 This conclusion amounts to conviction, since 

 we have received a letter from Mr. Roland For- 

 tune, who passed so many years in various parts 

 of China, in which he says: 'The man who 

 first gave these fowls the name of Cochin-China 

 has much to answer for. I firmly believe that 

 Avhat are called Cochin- CJiinas and Shanghais 

 are one and the same. One thing is certain 

 the breed you have in this country as Cochin- 

 Chinas are plentiful about Shanghai. They were 

 discovered after the war, and were frequently 

 brought to this country, and taken to India, by 

 captains of trading vessels. Was not this the 

 date of their introduction to England? And 

 what grounds has any one for supposing the 

 fowls ever saw Cochin-China?' We thought 

 this variety might have been earlier known, ow- 

 ing to our long-established commerce with Ma- 

 cao and Canton, but Mr. Fortune says that it is 

 a breed but little known in those warmer parts 

 of China, and that 'in fact, the southern Chi- 

 nese were as much struck with the size of the 

 breed as we were.' He adds, 'The Shanghai 

 breed seems to be more common about Shang- 

 hai than any where else in the north ; but I 



