THE COMMON WILD DUCK. 205 



Brought up in sampanes Description. 



belonging to different boats, will feed at large on 

 tbe same spot, and on a signal given, will follow 

 their leader to their respective sampanes, without 

 a single stranger being found among them. This 

 is still more extraordinary, if we consider the 

 number of inhabited sampanes on the Tigris; 

 supposed to be no less than forty thousand, 

 which are moored in rows close to each other, 

 with here and there a narrow passage for boats 

 to sail up and down the river. The inhabited 

 sampanes contain each a separate family, of 

 which they are the only dwelling; and many of 

 the Chinese pass almost their whole lives in this 

 manner on the water. The Tigris at Canton ia 

 somewhat wider than the Thames at London, 

 and the whole river is there covered in this man- 

 ner for the extent of at least a mile. 



THE COMMON WILD DUCK, OR 

 EOCHAS. 



FROM this species the tame ducks take their 

 origin, and to which they may be traced by un- 

 erring characters. The intermediate tail feathers 

 of the drake are turned backwards, and the bill 

 is straight, two circumstances that universally 

 prevail in the same sort. The difference of taste 

 is easily accounted for, from the difference of 

 their food. They pair in the spring, build their 

 nests among the rushes near the water, and lay 

 2 c 2 



