406 
FANCIERS’ JOURNAL AND POULTRY EXCHANGE. 
note of the fact, agree that John Chinaman evinces but the 
slightest care for his poultry. Fowls are bred there as they 
have been on our country farms — in the most indifferent 
way. All colors, all ages, all sizes, and all varieties are 
permitted to commingle promiscuously, from black to white 
(as our barn door fowls have been allowed to do) for cen- 
turies. 
When we get specimens here from China direct, as a rule 
they are purchased in New York, Boston, or Philadelphia, 
on shipboard, from the remains of a lot of chickens placed 
on board in Chinese ports 'for the cabin table en voyage. 
These fowls are of all descriptions, usually — clean-limbed, 
feathered-legged, white, brown, yellow, speckled, gray, red, 
black, or mottled. The buyer of these birds in China 
makes no particular selections in his purchases; and, ordi- 
narily, has no object in placing these chickens upon his 
vessel, except for consumption as food during the return 
trip. All of them are not killed and eaten, it sometimes 
turns out, and the birds thus brought into American ports 
are generally the “ imported stock from China,” that we 
sometimes read about in the papers. Not always thus, 'how- 
ever. Three or four notable instances have occurred within 
my own knowledge, in the past thirty years, where good 
fowls, fortunately chosen in China, have reached this coun- 
try, and have “ made their mark,” which may be recognized 
in thousands of American poultry flocks to-day. These 
instances were the Rev. Mr. Marsh’s ; the Forbes importa- 
tion ; the Cushing, the Bailies, and the Burnham stock ; all 
of which came from Shanghai, and were first-class birds at 
the start. 
The Marsh stock were yellow and partridge colored. The 
Cushing fowls were bright flame-colored golden cocks and 
hens. The Bailies were brown. The Forbes hens were 
very light drab, or silver-cinnamon, and the cocks invaria- 
bly reddish Dominique. The Burnham fowls were yellow, 
brown, and gray. All these different importations were 
feather-legged, more or less ; some showing this feature 
more prominently than others ; but the general character- 
istics, form, size, laying qualities, &c., were the same in all. 
Nobody, in those years, ever heard any of these fowls called 
by any other name save Shanghais — ns yellow, buff, black, 
partridge, white, or gray; and this was their proper, right- 
ful cognomen. Even Mr. Tegetmeier — acknowledged lead- 
ing authority in modern poultry history — in a splendid 
illustrated volume, first issued in England in 1853, gives us 
the finest accurately drawn and colored cbromos (by Wier) 
from life, of all varieties of Chinese fowls, and each picture 
is there appropriately designated under its portraiture as 
the White Shanghai, Buff Shanghai, Cinnamon Shanghai, 
Partridge Shanghai, Lemon Shanghai, etc. ; while accurate 
portraits of my Gray Shanghais (light and dark) occupy 
each full pages in his superb octavo, subsequently drawn 
from life by the same skilful English artist, Harrison 
Wier, which are fully described by the careful editor, at 
great length, as Burnham’s Gray Shanghais (not Brahmas). 
But, in a later edition of this same elegant volume, these 
same choicely colored plates appear, in nowise changed, 
except in name alone. This work, issued in 1866 or 1867, 
has a title line under each of the same illustrations of these 
original Shanghai varieties, reading “White Cochin,” 
“Buff Cochin,” etc., and the old Gray Shanghais are 
therein denominated Light and Dark Brahmas, respectively, 
to conform to the more modern fashion of cognomen. The 
(To be continued.) 
PlQEOfJ 
(For Fanciers’ Journal.) 
THE CARRIER. 
DR. W. P. MORGAN. 
My first experience with Carriers was what might be 
called a cheap one. I had been reading of birds that were 
used for carrying messages, and the fancy for breeding such 
pigeons took violent possession of me — as all such new ideas 
generally do of young and impetuous natures. It was a 
calm summer evening, sometime in the forties, that the 
paper containing the account was put in my hands, I think 
it was the Baltimore Sun , the editor of which had united 
with other editors in forming a pigeon express company, 
or rather news company, for the transmission of items by 
more rapid conveyance than those before in vogue. It rep- 
resented that the pigeons brought valuable information 
from the northern cities in advance of the mails, and that 
the incoming European steamers sent off birds hundreds of 
miles, from land, laden with items, often of the deepest 
interest to speculators. I will state here, that a gentleman 
associated with these editors, has told me that by knowing 
of one item thus brought by the pigeons in advance of the 
ship he invested his whole means in flour, and reaped a line 
harvest by the advance in price. Some of the birds sent off 
at sea were lost, but many succeeded in reaching land. For 
the rest of that eventful evening I was in a state of excite- 
ment. Carriers were the birds mentioned, and there were 
none in my loft, nor did I know of any in the city. Where 
