Former Characteristics of Malays. 275 



of the thigh bone — so unsightly, yet so all-important characteristics — owners of late years have 

 attempted to soften down, simply to ensure a better-looking and more compact fowl on the table. 

 We thus have lost, in a great measure, the lovely, narrow, lustrous feather that once stamped this 

 breed as standing far aloof from all others — a feature that in the Malays of the years 1830 to 1835 

 was almost universal, the breast-feathers of birds of about that date being so narrow and free from 

 down as scarcely to cover the fowl's body ; whilst the sickles and side-coverts of the cock's tail 

 never exceeded a half-inch in width, were of the brightest iridescent hue, but slightly curved, and 

 tapered very gradually indeed to an extremely fine point. Though carrying with them first impres- 

 sions of being so barely supplied as to quantity of plumage, such birds when adult never appeared 

 chilled, but, on the contrary, as though encased in whalebone-like armour from the effects of cold. 



" Neither do we now see any close approach to the great weights customary in Malays 

 of bygone days. In 1833 I possessed a flock of Red Pile Malays, bred from a pen of three birds 

 purchased for me from on shipboard at Liverpool : the old cock was nearly eleven pounds weight, 

 and the best hen a little over nine pounds. With the enthusiasm of youth, I weighed them scores 

 of times, hoping to make this couple twenty-one pounds, which however, at their best, they never 

 did attain by two or three ounces. I think we may look in vain for birds of that weight in the 

 present hour. For the amusement of friends, I frequently tested this cock by putting a piece of 

 bread on a table twenty-eight inches in height and four inches from the edge, and yet he was 

 so lengthy and stilty as to easily appropriate the much-coveted morsel without jumping. These 

 fowls bred well, and tolerably true to feather ; but among many chickens, I obtained two white 

 pullets and a black-red cockerel, though for three years they bred exclusively Red Piles, the 

 three ' sports ' just named all occuring in one nest. Some few years back a pen of the same 

 variety of Malays were successfully exhibited at several shows, by a member of the Council of 

 the Birmingham Poultry Exhibition, under the name of 'Rangoons;' they were identical with 

 the breed I once had, and were much larger than our present Malays. 



" The eggs of the Malays are exceedingly good in quality, and, being very thick-shelled, 

 keep well. 



"The cross with the Grey Dorking hen is an admirable table fowl, superabundantly supplied 

 with flesh of very high flavour ; and I may state I repeatedly killed cockerels of the year thus 

 cross-bred that, purposely well fed up for Christmas, weighed eighteen pounds the couple, plucked 

 but not drawn — the choice joints, viz., wings, breast, and merry-thought, being especially 

 well developed. Before poultiy-shows were prevalent Malays were chiefly kept on account 

 of their really good useful quality on the dish, and their extreme singularity of appearance 

 when living. The amateurs of the present time have mostly discarded them, as being not 

 certain prize-winners ; still my impression is they are fully as remunerative as many of the more 

 fashionable breeds." 



The number of Malay breeders in England could be counted on the fingers, and hence the 

 evils of in-breeding — as already pointed out in the case of White Cochins — would in this case be 

 intensified in a high degree, and must be avoided as far as possible. Every chance of procuring a 

 good imported hen (cocks are usually too imperfect in colour to be of any use) should be secured ; 

 and every means of giving tone and strength to the system, such as those we have already hinted 

 at, diligently adopted. The colour usually gives little trouble, as the black-breasted cocks and 

 dark cinnamon or wheaten hens usually breed tolerably true, and white or black must be bred 

 as usual in those colours. The practical management has been sufficiently treated of in the 

 preceding notes. 



