CHAPTEE VI. 
COCHINS. 
T he conclusion of tlie Chinese war in 1843, when the northern ports, including 
Shanghae, were thrown open to European vessels, may he stated as being 
the period of the first introduction of these remarkable fowls into this country. 
The date usually assigned to their importation is frequently some few years later, 
and there are several claimants to be regarded as the first holders of this variety ; 
but the fact that a group of them belonging to her Majesty were, under the name 
of Cochin-China fowls, represented in the accompanying engraving from the 
Illustrated London News for December 23, 1843, carries the period of their 
existence in this country back to, at least, some months antecedent to that date. 
These, then recently imported, birds were described in the following paragraph : — 
Her Majesty’s collection of fowls is very considerable, occupying half-a-dozen 
very extensive yards, several small fields, and numerous feeding-houses, laying- 
sheds, hospitals, winter courts, &c. It is, however, in the new fowl-house that 
the more and curious birds are kept, and to these — as the common sorts are well 
known — we shall confine our attention. The Cochin-China fowls claim the first 
consideration. These extraordinary birds are of gigantic size, and in their pro- 
portions very nearly allied to the family of bustards, to which, in all probability, 
they are proximately related — in fact, they have already acquired the name of the 
‘ ostrich fowl.’ In general colour they are of a rich glossy brown, tail black, 
and on the breast a horse- shoe marking of black ; the comb cleanly and neatly 
formed, with shallow serrations ; the wattles double. Two characters appear to 
be peculiar to them — one, the arrangement of the feathers on the back of the 
cock’s neck, which are turned upwards ; and the other, the form of the wing, 
which is jointed, to fold together, so that, on occasion, the bird may double up its 
posterior half and bring it forward between the anterior half and the body. The 
eggs are of a deep mahogany colour, and of a delicious flavour. These birds are 
very healthy, quiet, attached to home, and in every respect suited to the English 
climate. They are fed, like most of the other fowls, on a mixture of boiled rice, 
potatoes, and milk.” 
There may be traced perhaps to the author of this, the earliest account of these 
birds, many of the ridiculous errors respecting them that gained a ready credence 
with the public in the early days of what was then known as the Cochin mania. 
The suggestion that they were allied to the bustards, we need scarcely say, was 
entirely without foundation. The statement that the wattle was double evidently 
