42 THE HISXOEY OF 



"The what?" 



" The Cochin-Chinas." 



"What's them?" 



"Don't you know?" 



" No ; never heard of 'em, afore." 



" Never heard of Burnham's Cochin-O-iinas ? '♦ 



" Never ! What are they ? " 



"Well, I reckon you ha'n't lived in these 'ere parts long, 

 my friend," continued the other; "and you'd better step 

 in and look at 'em." 



In came the stranger, and after examining the fowls he 

 returned. 



"How do you like 'em?" asked the man who had 

 akeady seen them, and was waiting for his friend outside. 



"They're ronchers, that's a feet ! " exclaimed the grat- 

 ified stranger. And this was the universal opinion. 



Nobody had ever seen such fowls (/ had seen a good 

 many better ones !) — nobody had ever beheld any so large, 

 so heavy, so fine. And every one who came to look at them 

 purchased or engaged either eggs or chickens from these 

 "extraordinary" and " never- to-be-too-much-lauded " royal 

 Cochin-China fowls ! 



For my first broods of chickens (at three and four months 

 old) I readily obtained twenty-five dollars a pair: and 

 every one of them went off " like hot cakes " at this figure. 

 It was too low for them, altogether ; and I had occasion to 



