C Ov L U M B A. . 825 
lne : arrival or a Ihip, to give the merchants at Aleppo a 
more expeditious notice than could be devifed by any 
other means. 
Extraordinary attention was formerly paid to the breed¬ 
ing and training of thefe pigeons, in order to be fent from 
governors in a befieged city to generals that were coming 
to fuccour it; from princes to their fubje&s with the news 
of fotne important tranfaftton ; or from love-lick heroes 
to their diftant and del'ponding fair ones. In this coun¬ 
try thefe aerial meflengers have been ufed to notify to 
diftant friends the exit of forne unhappy criminal ; like 
as was a cuftom among the ancient Romans, to let fly an 
eagle from the funeral pile, to make his apotheofis com¬ 
plete. In the eaft, they formerly kept relays of thefe birds, 
in conftant readinelV to carry exprefies to all parts of the 
country, where they had been previoufly and purpolely 
bred. When the governor of Damietta heard the news 
of the death of Orillo, he let fly a pigeon, under whofe 
wing he had fattened a letter; this flew to Cairo, from 
whence a fecond was difpatched to another place, as was 
cuftomary ; fo that the death of Orillo was made known 
to all Egypt in the fpace of a few hours. Rut the native 
life of thefe winged meflengers was known in much earlier 
times: Anacreon informs us, that he held a correfpon- 
dence with his lovely Bathyllus by a dove. Taurofthe- 
nes, by means of a pigeon, which he cauled to be decked 
with purple, fent the news to his father, who lived in the 
ifle ofiEgina, of his victory in the Olympic games, on 
the very day he had gained it. When Modena was be- 
lieged, Brutus within the walls kept an uninterrupted 
correfpondence with Hirtius without, by the affiftance of 
pigeons ; fetting at nought every ftratagem of the befieger, 
Antony, to flop or retard thefe aerial couriers. In the 
times of the crufades there are many inflances of thele 
birds being alfo made uieful in the fervice of war. Taffo 
relates one during the fiege of Jerufalem; and Joinville 
another, during the crufade of St. Louis. 
To train a pigeon for this purpofe, take a ftrong full- 
fledged young carrier, and convey it in a balket, or bag, 
about half a mile from home, and there turn it loole; 
having repeated this two or three times, then take it two, 
four, eight, ten, or twenty, miles, and fo on, till it will 
return from the remoteft; parts of the kingdom. If they 
are not praftifed when young, the beft of them will fly 
but infecurely, and Hand a great chance of being loft. 
The pigeon intended to be fent with the letter fhould be 
kept in the dark, and without food, for about eight hours 
before it is let loofe, when it will immediately rife, and 
turning round, as is their cuftom, will continue on the 
wing till it has reached its native home. 
The Horseman. —It is a matter of difpute whether 
the horfeman be an original pigeon, or only an hybrid 
ftrain, got between a tumbler and a carrier, or a powter 
and a carrier, and fo bred over again from a carrier; for 
it is certain the more frequently this is performed, the 
ftronger and more graceful the horfeman becomes. There 
is a lpecies of this fort brought from Scanderoon, famous 
for the rapidity of their flight, and the vale diftance they 
will'go; which is the only incident that Teems to lupport 
the opinion that they are an original ftrain ; but this does 
not obviate the difficulty, for they may be bred after the 
fame manner at Scanderoon, and lb imported into Europe. 
This bird is in Ihape and make very like the faucy-car- 
rier, only lei's in all its proportions; its body is finaller, 
its neck (hotter; neither is there lo much incrufted fleffi 
upon the beak and round the eye, fo that the diftance 
between the wattle and the eye is much more co.nfpicuous 
in this pigeon than in "the carrier. They are alfo more 
fubjeft to be barrel-headed and pinch-eyed. This fpecies 
is decorated with a variety of colours; but the molt, dif- 
tinguilhed are the blue and blue pieds, which generally 
prove the belt breeders. Thele pigeons, efpecially when 
young, fliould be regularly flown twice a-day, and, as they 
gain ttrength, ffiould be let loole, and put on the wing, 
without any others in company, and they wiil fly fouror 
Vql. IV. No. 241. 
five miles in a few minutes, fvveeping over a very large 
circuit in an hour or two, and is what the fanciers term 
going an end". 
The Dragoon, —This fancy-pigeon was originally 
bred between a tumbler and a liorleman/and the ablelt 
fanciers are unanimous in their opinion of its being a hy¬ 
brid ftrain, and that by frequently matching their breed 
to the horfeman, they acquire great ftrengrh and agility. 
This pigeon is an excellent breeder, and make3 a good 
nurfe; for which reafon they are frequently kept as feeders 
for rearing young powters, Leghorn runts, and fome other 
pigeons, which-either breed fo fait that they cannot-give 
their young ones due attendance, or are deftitute of that 
natural fondnefs which is the principal chara&eriftic of 
this bird. The dragoon is a lighter and fmaller pigeon 
than the horfeman, and is faid to be more 1 rapid in its 
flight for ten or twenty miles; neverthelefs, if the horfe¬ 
man be well bred, it will always diftance the others at a 
greater number of miles. They fliould be flown and 
trained whilft young, in the fame manner as the horfe¬ 
man. Amonglt the feveral remarkable inflances of the 
celerity of the flight of this bird, there is one fupported 
by undeniable tettimony, of a dragoon that flew from 
Bury St. Edmunds to London, which is feventy-fix miles, 
in two hours and a half. 
The Fancy Tumbler. —This pigeon derives its name 
from an intuitive inllimft peculiar to its fpecies, which is 
their extraordinary motions as they are nfing in the air, 
effected by turning themfelves over backward, much in 
the fame manner that an expert genius in tumbling per¬ 
forms what is called the back fpring. Some fanciers are 
of opinion that the celebrated almond tumbler cannot per¬ 
form this manoeuvre ; but we are allured that they perform 
this motion with as great alertnefs as any other tumbler. 
The moft prized fancy tumbler is a very AnaH pigeon, 
body fliort, thin neck, full breafted, with a ftiort round 
head, and frnall beak, and the irides of the eyes fliould be 
of a clear pearl colour ; indeed if the tumbler be without 
any particular blemifti, there is no difference between it 
and the almond tumbler, except in the plumage. Thefe 
birds by their flight afford great latisfaftion to the 
breeders of fancy pigeons; for, belicies the pleafure they 
give by their tumbling, they will frequently rife to fuch 
an amazing height in the air, as to he alrnofl impercep¬ 
tible to the keeneft eye 5 and there is one peculiar pro¬ 
perty belonging to them, that they will not ramble like 
the horfeman, but if good birds, and familiarized to each 
other, will keep fuch clofe company, that a flight of a do¬ 
zen may be almoft covered with a handkerchief. At this 
height, efpecially if the weather be warm and clear, they 
wiil continue upon the wing for four or Jive hours upon, 
a ftretch ; it is reported that fome well bred tumblers 
have flown for nine hours lucceffively, when they have 
been up at their higheft pitch ; the favourite fort leldom 
tumble but when they are beginning to rile, or when they 
are coming down upen a pitch. The Dutch tumbler 
nearly refembles the Engiilh, but.is larger, with a more 
prominent head, and a circle of a thin (kin round the eye,, 
like that of a dragoon, and is frequently feather-legged; 
but the lkin round the eye gives great difgutt to lorne 
fanciers. It is faid that they are apt to tumble immoder¬ 
ately, and to lofe ground in flying, by finking too low. 
among the reft of the flight, which is a great fault. The 
genuine Engliffi tumblers are almoft always white, blue, 
or black; for which reafon it is the opinion of experi-, 
enced breeders, that moft cf the valuable mixed feathers 
have been introduced by a union with the Dutch. This 
pigeon dilplays in its plumage a charming variety of co¬ 
lours, as reds, yellows, duns, blues, bl uks, whites, fiivers,, 
and in fliort, a delightful ccmpoftticn of all thele colours 
mixed or interfperfed with the white. There is a variety 
of this pigeon known by the name of bald-pated tumblers, 
the plumage of which conlitts cf a great diyerlity of co¬ 
lours ; they have a pearl eye, a white head, with a white 
flight and tail, and are very gpodflyers. When they are 
10.A aloft. 
