THE HEN FEVER. 168 



were always willingly and freely paid, and the stock was, 

 after a while, disseminated throughout the entire valley of 

 the Mississippi; where the China fowls always did better 

 than in our own climate. 



It proved an ex|>ensive business to some of these gentle- 

 men, most emphatically. But they always paid cheerfully, 

 promptly, and liberally ; and ktteio the Yankees they were 

 dealing with, a good deal better than many of the sharpers 

 supposed they did. For myself, I shall not permit this 

 opportunity to pass without expressing my thanks to my 

 numerous and generous Southern patrons, to whom I sent a 

 great many hundred pairs of what were deemed " good 

 birds," and to whom I am indebted, largely, for the trade I 

 enjoyed for upwards of five years. I sincerely hope they 

 made more money out of all this than I did ; and I trust 

 that their substance, as well as " their sKadows, may never 

 be less." 



During this year, and far into 1854, the current of trade 

 turned towards Great Britain ; and John Bull was not very 

 slow to appreciate the rare qualities of my " magnificent " 

 and "extraordinary" birds; "the like of which," said a 

 London journal, when the Queen's fowls first arrived, " was 

 never before seen in England." 



For upwards of a year, I had all this trade in my own 

 way. Subsequently, some of the smaller dealers sent out a 

 few pairs to London, but " the people " there could never 



