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Chapter XXX. 
MALAYS. 
The Malay Fowl occupies a unique position among the older and better known varieties of Domestic 
Poultry, and without doubt many of our present-day Show varieties owe their existence, in a much greater 
measure than is generally known or allowed, to this highly characteristic breed. The breed is indigenous to 
some portions of India, the Mauritius, and Malay Archipelago, though the birds bred and fought in the 
latter islands differ somewhat to the bird with which we are familiar in the Show pen. In many places in 
the Malay Peninsula cock-fighting is the common amusement of the people, and actually takes place in the 
public streets throughout the principal towns and villages, many of the Rajahs keeping strong teams of 
Malay Fighting Game, engaging men to train the birds for the Pit, and fighting mains for large sums of 
money. At some of the larger towns mains are fought almost daily in the open street, the spectators forming 
a ring ; the birds are fought with long steel spurs, and the excitement while the fights are in progress is 
immense. Those that have made bets scream, yell, and jump about frantically, and occasionally a loser or 
two run amuck, creating further diversion. The breed is fostered to a considerable extent in some of the 
Australasian Colonies, notably Queensland, New South Wales, and South Australia, but are kept and bred 
almost without exception for Show purposes, though at the present time, perhaps, there is no breed of Fowls 
that has so few admirers as the Malay outside of the real Fancier of the variety. It requires an eye 
thoroughly well educated to their more or less repulsive-looking " points " to see and note their " beauties." 
At the same time the Malay has played, and will no doubt continue to play, a highly important part in the 
Poultry History of the World. Indisputably the Malay is responsible for the appearance of one of the finest 
varieties of Poultry in existence, viz., the Australian Game Fowl. Secondly, the Cornish-Indian Game Fowl is, 
without a suspicion of doubt, an offshoot of the same breed, and, thirdly, the Modern Show British Game Fowl 
has also a large dash of Malay blood in its composition. To this may also be added the thousand and one 
different varieties of Fighting Game used for Pit purposes throughout America and Australia, which one and 
all possess a large element of Malay blood. From reliable authority the Malay appears to have deteriorated 
considerably within the past fifty years, and with certainty we can echo that they have done so as far as 
strong characteristic points are concerned within our own knowledge of the breed, that is, within the past 
quarter of a century. At the time we mention the Malay was the "Giant of the Poultry Woi'ld," and was 
largely used to cross for improving the size and flesh of Table Poultry, the cross with the Dorking, or even 
Brahma, producing a bird of superlative merit ; the quantity and quality of the flesh on breast, wings, and 
thighs being all that could be desired. The Malay bred pure is also an excellent Table Fowl, but present 
day requirements rule that the legs are too long, and objectionable on those grounds. 
However, there is no gainsaying the fact that the Malay of to-day cannot stand comparison with the 
Malay of thirty to forty years back in head qualities, size, or shape. At the time we mention it was 
customary to find cocks weighing ii to 13 lbs., hens 8 to 10 lbs., but how many of the present day cracks 
could come nigh those weights, while the prominent and most striking characteristics of the breed have been 
considerably altered for the worse. We have in a great measure lost the long broad head, and heavy 
beetling brows. The wattles, ear-lobes, and combs are larger, wartier, and coarser ; while the skin of throat 
and face shows more feather. The neck, thighs, and shanks are now considerably shorter ; the breadth 
across the shoulders is also modified, and the quick finish to the fine, narrow stern is also more or less 
wanting. The wings and shoulder-butts seem to have lost the substance and prominence of the earlier 
specimens. The tails are now much broader and heavier in feather, and not carried as they should be ; the 
whole style, shape, and carriage of the breed are altered from the original. The alteration in the type of the 
Malay may be attributed to two causes — firstly, the difficulty of obtaining good breeding stock of fresh 
blood (as the Malay cannot be improved by persistent in-breeding like most other varieties), and, secondly. 
