‘284 
WANDERINGS IN 
FOURTH 
JOURNEY. 
Cocks of 
the Rock. 
But whither am I going? I find myself on a new 
and dangerous path. Pardon, gentle reader, this 
sudden deviation. Methinks I hear thee saying to 
me,— 
“ Tramite quo tendis, majoraque viribus audes.” 
I grant that I have erred, but I will do so no more. 
In general I avoid politics; they are too heavy for 
me, and I am aware that they have caused the fall 
of many a strong and able man; they require the 
shoulders of Atlas to support their weight. 
When I was in the rocky mountains of Macou- 
shia, in the month of June, 1812, I saw four young 
Cocks of the Rock in an Indian’s hut; they had 
been taken out of the nest that week. They were 
of a uniform dirty brown colour, and by the position 
of the young feathers upon the head, you might see 
that there would be a crest there when the bird 
arrived at maturity. By seeing young ones in the 
month of June, I immediately concluded that the old 
cock of the rock would be in fine plumage from the 
end of November to the beginning of May; and that 
the naturalist, who was in quest of specimens for 
his museum, ought to arrange his plans in such a 
manner as to be able to get into Macoushia during 
these months. However, I find now, that no exact 
period can be fixed; for, in December, 1824, an 
Indian in the river Demerara gave me a young 
cock of the rock not a month old, and it had just 
been brought from the Macoushi country. By 
having a young specimen at this time of the year, 
it puts it out of one’s power to say at what precise time 
the old birds are in full plumage. I took it on 
