THE TURKEY. 
119 
of Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois, and the 
vast expanse of territory on the Missisippi and Mis- 
souri, as far as the forests extend, are most abun- 
dantly supplied with this valuable game, which forms 
an important part of the subsistence of the hunter 
and traveller in the wilderness. It is not probable 
that its range extends to or beyond the Rocky 
Mountains. The Mandan Indians, who a few years 
ago visited the city of Washington, considered the 
Turkey as one of the greatest curiosities they had 
seen, and prepared a skin of one to carry home for 
exhibition *. 
There can be little doubt that we are indebted to 
the Spaniards for the introduction of the Turkey to 
Europe, and that it would be brought from Mexico 
upon the discovery of the New World. From Spain 
a bird of such value, and so easily domesticated, 
would easily find its way to Britain ; and although 
we cannot trace its introduction, we may confidently 
assert that it was not before 1525, and most pro- 
bably between that and the year 1530. They do 
not appear in the bill of fare in the celebrated feast 
of Archbishop Neville ; and the first published no- 
tice of the bird is in a “ History of the Indies,” by 
Oviedo, written in 1525. It appears from that tra- 
veller, that it was then an inhabitant of the greater 
islands, as well as of the mainland, and he speaks of 
them as peacocks ; for, being a new bird to him, ho 
Bonaparte, Continuation of Wilson. 
