271 



CHAPTER XX. 



MALAYS. 



A BIRD similar to the IVIalay in all essential characteristics is still the indigenous or common fowl 

 of India, as well as the smaller peninsula whose name it bears, and so far its origin is not difficult 

 to determine ; further back the problem is not so easy. Temminck, as is well known, considered 

 the fowl to be the domesticated descendant of a wild G alius giganteus ; but it is the fashion now to 

 sneer at this old naturalist, and to acknowledge no remote ancestor save Callus Bankiva as the 

 origin of all our poultry. It may perhaps be so, though we may be permitted to observe that little 

 in the shape of real argument has yet been adduced for this view, and that the Malay type of bird 

 i.i, if anything, far more diffused than the other throughout Eastern Asia. To say that a bird thus 

 widely spread is only a domesticated breed, does not count for much with any practical breeder of 

 fowls, who knows how surely and definitely rci>ersion tells its tale on an artificial race, unless 

 guarded against by a sedulous care which the Easterns never give ; and it is marvellous to us that 

 Mr. Darwin, who so dwells on this tendency so far as it serves his own argument, does not appear 

 even to see its force wherever it bears against him. It is, however, no part of our purpose to enter 

 into a disquisition on a subject which, in our opinion, requires many more facts to be ascertained 

 before it can be satisfactorily dealt with ; and with the simple remark that the Malay is, at all 

 events, one of the most ancient and well-marked of all domesticated breeds, we therefore proceed at 

 once to describe the breed itself as now known to fanciers. 



The Malay characteristics are very distinct and peculiar, consisting more in general points 

 than any fixed standard of colour. The head of the cock is very broad and long, with heavy 

 overhanging eyebrows, which gi\e a most cruel expression to the face. The beak is stout at the 

 base, and much more curved or hooked than in any other varietj- of poultrj', still further adding 

 to the fierceness of expression. The face is unusually bare of feathers, giving a red and skinny 

 appearance to the whole, even the throat being left nearly exposed in most specimens. Wattles 

 and deaf-ears are small, but the comb is very peculiar — in fact it is peculiar to this breed, being 

 neither single, rose, or triple, but more resembling the half of a very small walnut — a mere 

 roundish convex lump, covered with very small projections. It should be small, even, and set well 

 forward towards the beak. The neck is very long, and hackle short, hard, and scanty, making it 

 appear longer still, the head being carried as high as possible. The general shape of the body is 

 large at the shoulders, and tapering away to the tail, the shoulders being carried so high that the 

 back slants downwards, and the tail also droops towards the ground. The thighs and legs are very 

 long, and the wings strorg and bony, the shoulders standing prominently and sharply out from the 

 body, even when they are closed. All the plumage is very short, hard, and of extraordinary lustre. 



The hen resembles the cock in general characters, but in" carriage does not droop so much 

 behind, her tail being usually carried a very little above the horizontal position. 



In colour there are Whites, Blacks, and Piles ; but the generally shown type of late is either 

 black, or resembling in colour Black-red Game cocks, with darkish Wheaten h^n-s. The earlier 



