192 THE TAME DUCK. 



cally for all web-footed fowls. But, as Scott says 

 " here the critics find abundance of work." 



I have already alluded to the artificial incubation 

 of the eggs of fowls in Egypt ; the sams thing occurs 

 with ducks' eggs in China. The rearing of ducks as 

 well as pigs there is a matter of considerable im- 

 portance. Thousands of ducks are hatched by artificial 

 warmth, the eggs being laid in boxes of sand, which 

 are placed on a brick hearth, a proper temperature 

 being maintained around them, until the ducklings 

 emerge from their shells. The ducklings, it is said, 

 are at first fed with cray fish and crabs boiled and cut 

 small, and afterwards mixed with boiled rice. In 

 about a fortnight, they are able to shift for themselves ; 

 they are then provided with an old stepmother, who 

 leads them where they are to find provender, being 

 first put on board a " sampan," or boat which is destined 

 for their habitation, and from which the whole flock, 

 300 or 400 in number, go out to feed and return at 

 command. This method is used nine months out of 

 the twelve ; for, in the colder months, it does not suc- 

 ceed, and is so ,far from a novelty that it may be seen 

 everywhere, more especially about the time of cutting 

 the rice, when the masters of the duck boats row up 

 and down the rivers, according to the opportunity of 

 procuring food, which, during that season, is found in 

 plenty at the ebb of the tide on the rice plantations 

 which are overflowed at high water. It is curious to 

 see how the ducks obey their master ; for, some thou- 

 sands belonging to different boats, will feed upon the 

 same spot, and on a signal given, follow the leader to - 

 their respective crafts, without a stranger being found 

 among them. The communication between the bank 

 and the boat, is by means of a narrow plank ; and 

 it is stated by a gentleman long resident in the Ce- 

 lestial Empire that the first duck which gains the 

 boat is ordinarily rewarded with a handful of rice, 

 but that the last undergoes a smart chastisement. Of 

 this discipline, the birds become, from its repetition, 



