( 146) 



pofes that pulling the feathers whilft alive 

 makes the goofe rank : but thofe I fpeak of, had 

 been pulled thrice at lead. 



It is the quality of the food that determines 

 the tafte of the flefh; this one more inftance 

 may elucidate. Whillt in Lincolnfhire, a man 

 one day at market fold two of the fattefl geefe 

 I had ever feen. My curiofity was ftimulated : 

 I was anxious and inquifitive to know what 

 means were ufed to give them fo great a quan- 

 tity of flefh and fat. The vender allured me 

 they had eaten nothing but grafs; I thought 

 this muft be a much cheaper method than the 

 one we practifed, which was to give them as 

 many oats almoft as they were worth when kil- 

 led j and I hoped that from thenceforth I might 

 eat my roaft-geefe, or my goofe-pie, upon 

 cheaper terms than formerly. I had then fome 

 at grafs, which, though not fo fat as thofe the 

 man fold, were yet fatter than any I had fed 

 on corn : but when my goofe came to be put 

 to the fire, I foon refolved upon returning to 

 myxoid method of feeding with corn-, for al- 

 though this, in common with the reft of my 

 geefe in the field, had as fine a ftream of wa- 

 ter as is in any part of England to fwim in, no 



fox, 





