274 A DESCRIPTION OF 
the sun holds in the firmament has baffled the most scru- 
tinizing researches of naturalists. When of a good breed, 
and well taught to fight, he will rather die than yield to 
his adversary. The hen lays a great number of eggs, and 
at certain times feels an irresistible propensity to sit upon 
them. When in the secluded state of incubation, she eats 
very little ; and yet is so courageous and strong, that she 
will rise and fight any men or animals, that dare to ap- 
proach her nest. It is impossible to conceive how, with 
such scanty a sustenance as she takes, she can, for twenty- 
one days, emit constantly from her body so much heat as 
would raise Fahrenheit's thermometer to ninety-six de- 
grees. The flesh of this bird is delicate and wholesome, 
and universally relished as nourishing and agreeable food. 
There are several varieties or families of this fowl. The 
Hamburgh Cook has a beautiful tuft of feathers about his 
ears, and on the top of his head ; and the Bantam has his 
legs and toes entirely feathered, which is more aq impedi- 
ment than an ornament to the bird. 
The cruel sport of cockfighting may be traced back to 
the earliest antiquity. The Athenians seem to have re- 
ceived it from India, where it is even now followed with 
a kind of frenzy ; and we are told that the Chinese will 
sometimes risk not only the whole of their property, but 
their wives and children on the issue of a battle. The 
religion of the Greeks could not see that game with plea- 
sure, and therefore cockfighting was allowed only once a 
year; but the Romans, who had given to the bird the 
name of their earliest enemies, the Gauls, adopted the 
practice with rapture, and introduced it into this island. 
Henry VIII. delighted in this sport, and caused a com- 
modious house to be built for the purpose, which, although 
it is now applied to a very different use, still retains the 
name of the Cockpit. The part of our ships so called, 
seems also to indicate that in former times the diversion 
of cockfighting was permitted in order to beguile the te- 
