THE COMMON QUAH- 
97 
Ijy imitating their calJ. On the coast of Italy and Si- 
dly, anf! all the Greek islaritljs, tlitjy arrive at certain 
seasonfi in immense numbers. An hundred thousanii 
are said t» Itave heen taken in one day. They are run 
after during the flight like the passen^r pigieona uC 
America, and a harvest in gathert^d when tiie numbers 
are greatest. In Sicil y, crowds of aU age* and degrees 
aasembie on the shore. Tlie number of bo«ta ia even 
greater ; and enviable is the lot of the idle appren- 
tice, who, with a borrowed musket or pistol, no mat- 
ter how unsafe. Has gained possession of tl>e farthest 
rock, where there is hul room for liimself and hi« 
doBT, which fie has feil with bread only, all the yeai" 
round for these deliglufni day^i, and which sits in as 
happy expectation as himself for the arrival of tlie 
ijuailx.*' Orty^iria vtim named from them; and s<i 
abundant were they on Capri^ an island at the en- 
trance of the Gulf of NapSe», that they formed the 
principal revenue of the bisimp of the island. From 
twelve to sixty thousand were annually mken ; and 
one year tlie capture amounted to one hundred and 
sixty thousand. In China, and iu many of tlie east- 
ern islands and Malacca, they are also very abund- 
ant, performing regular migrations from the interior 
to the coast. Here they are domesticated along with 
a small species of Ony^'if, and trained to fight. 
Lrarge stakes are risked upon the result; as in the 
cockpit. They are also used by the Chinese to warjti 
their hands in cold weatlier, their bodies being thought 
• Gait 'b Travels. 
VOL. IV. 1 
