492 



DUCK. 



This method is frequently put in practice on the river Ganges, 

 ufing the earthen vefTels of the Centcos inftead of the calabajlies : 

 thefe vefTels are what the Centcos boil their rice in, and are called 

 Kutcharee pots (they likewife make adifh for their tables in them, 

 which goes by the fame name) : after thefe are once ufed they 

 look upon them as defiled, and in courfe throw them into the 

 river as ufelefs ; and the Duck-takers find them convenient for 

 their purpofe, as the Ducks, from conftantly feeing the vefTels 

 float down the ftream, look wpon them as objects of full as 

 little regard as a calabajh. The above, or fome fuch method, is 

 alfo pratftifed in China*, as well as India; alfo in the ifland of 

 Ceylon f. By the fame means they are faid to take Wild Geefe in 

 South America j\ Some authors fay that a hollow wooden vejjel 

 is ufed to place over the head, with holes to fee through ||. 



The Chineje make great ufe of Ducks, but do not prefer the wild 

 fort, being in general extremely fond of tame ones: and it is faid 

 that the major part of thefe are hatched by artificial heat ; the eggs, 

 being laid in boxes of /and, are placed on a brick hearth, to 

 which is given a proper heat during the required time for hatch- 

 ing. The Ducklings are fed with little craw-fifies and crabs, 

 boiled and cut fmall, and afterwards mixed with boiled rice; 

 and in about a fortnight fhift for themfelves, when the Chinefe 



* DuHalde Hifl. China, vol. ii. p. 142. pi. in p. 162. 



f MS. in Britijh Mufeum, 3324. 



% At Cartbagena, to the eaft of Monte de la Popa, in a large lake called Cienega 

 de Tefcos, the Wild Geefe coming there of an evening in vaft flights. —Ullea's 

 Voy. i. p. 53. 



|| Sympjon Fey. to the Eaft Indies. — See Naval Chron. vol. ii. p. 473, with a 

 plate of the fame. — See alfo Ind. Zool. p. 12. — Zool. Ind. p. 21. — Pococke men- 

 tions the circumftance, but does not feem to credit it. Tirav. vol. i. p. 210. 



8 provide 



