Mr. CoR.vfsns Testimony. 241 



silver cinnamon offsprincj^a sure sign of recent crossing — while tlic pure unmixed siock, obtained 

 direct from Dr. Bennett, who had his from Wr. Cornish, " invariably bred pure grey." In 

 December of the same year the editor of the journal himself writes, that "while what have been 

 considered the purest strain of the Brahma-Pootras have thrown pure chickens only, we know on 

 good authority that the produce of imported birds of equally high pretensions (Burnham's) ha\-e 

 produced buff chickens with black hackles." 



Further testimony still being desirable, a valued American correspondent, Colonel Mason C. 

 Weld, associate-editor of one of the most widely-circulated agricultural papers in the States, for- 

 warded to Mr. Cornish a series of questions on the subject, and transmitted to us Mr. Cornish's 

 reply, as follows : — 



" New Britain, Connecticut, U.S., 



" A'ov<!inbcr Cjth, 1869. 



" Mason C. Weld, Esq. 



" Dear Sir, — I have your letter of 5tli. I give below all the facts relating to the early history of the Brahma- 

 Pootra fowls I can call to mind at this late day. At an earlier day I could have given a history of these fowls more 

 Satisfactory to myself, i.e., more fully than I can now ; nevertheless, so far as it goes the truth of it cannot be questioned. 

 I will at once answer your questions. 



" 1st. — Mr. Chamberlain's Christian name is Nelson H. 



" 2nd. — The sailor's name I never made note of, and cannot give it. 



"3rd. — The ship arrived in New York in September, 1846. The first brood came out in Tilay, 1C47. 1 purchased 

 the most of that brood in August, and the old pair the April following. 



" 4th. — The name of the port from which the ship sailed with the fowls on board is Luckipoor. Tl-.is port is up from 

 the mouth of the Brahma-Pootra river, in India. The name of the ship I cannot give, neither can 1 give the name of 

 the captain. Did not at the time think it of importance, and made no record of it. 



" 5th.— The Brahmas were first exhibited in Boston by Mr. Hatch, of Hampton, Conn., under the name of Grey 

 Chittagongs, in 1830. I declined exhibiting mine at that time ; I believed thein to be a breed different from the 

 Chittagong, and preferred to accumulate stock and test them further before bringing them out publicly. 



"6th.— I attended the exhibition at Boston, and contended that, they differed from the Chittagongs, and should 

 pass under a different name. A committee was appointed, and the name Brahma-Pootra given ; it being the name of 

 the great river from the banks of which they came. The name was then established. 



"7th. — Weight of cocks, full-sized, twelve to fourteen pounds; cocks, six to seven months, nine to ten pounds 

 Hens when first introduced, nine to ten pounds. 



"Sth.— I did notice the 'pea-comb' on the first birds. It was small. It was not so with all, and yet it 

 appeared different from the comb of the Chittagong. 



'' 9th. — There was no degeneracy in the birds of my breeding. I had soinc specimens larger than the imported 

 birds. I sold no birds until December, 1850. I sold at first at twelve dollars per pair, and soon after from fifteen 

 dollars to fifty dollars per pair. The price went up as the fowls became better known, and recognised as a distinct breed. 



" loth. — 1 bred them eight years, when my health failed, and I was obliged to leave all care for a time. 



" nth.— 77;^-;^ was a tendency to thrown dark ctiiikenSjhM a greater tendency to become lighter, and yet not white 

 like the White Dorking. All breeds of fowls having dark and light feathers can be varied either way, to darker or 

 lighter, by choosing always the darkest or the lightest for breeders. If your stock of Brahmas are pure, and they are 

 allowed to breed together promiscuously, the variation in colour will be slight. I never bred to either extreme. 



" Yours truly, 



" VIRGIL CORNISH." 



The conflict of a=;scrtion, it will be seen, is absolute and direct between Mr. Cornish and 

 Burnham, but this last letter is absolutely conclusive unless it can be discredited ; for Burnham's 

 own account does not claim anything on his part till several years after the date here named as that 

 of the introdtiction into Connecticut of these fowls. It was therefore attempted to discredit it; 

 and in a review by the Field of the work in which Mr. Cornish's note was first published, the 

 following remarks were made : — 



