WILD TURKEY. 
93 
texture and agreeable sapidity. On this account, it has been 
eagerly sought by almost all nations, and has been naturalized with 
astonishing rapidity throughout the world, almost universally con¬ 
stituting a favourite banquet dish. 
The Turkey, belonging originally to the American continent, 
was necessarily unknown to the ancients, who, in this as in a 
thousand other instances, were deficient in our most common and 
essential articles of food. Readers unacquainted with the fact may 
well be surprised to learn, that, although the introduction of this 
bird into Europe is comparatively modern, its origin has already 
been lost sight of, and that eminent naturalists of the last century, 
who lived so much nearer to the time of its first appearance, have 
expressed great uncertainty concerning its native country. Thus 
Belon, Aldrovandi, Gessner, Ray, &c. thought that it came origi¬ 
nally from Africa and the East Indies, and endeavoured to recog¬ 
nise it in some of the domestic birds of the ancients. Belon and 
Aldrovandi supposed it to have been mentioned by ancient authors, 
but they mistook for it the JVumida meleagris of Linne, which is 
actually an African bird, now almost naturalized in America, even 
in a wild state; so that it would be apparently more reasonable 
for America to regard that bird as indigenous, than that the old 
continent should lay claim to the Turkey. In so soon losing sight 
of the origin of this bird, we see a strong exemplification of the 
ungrateful disposition of man, who can durably treasure up the 
memory of wrongs and injuries, but fails to recollect the greatest 
benefits he has received. It would be loss of time to combat the 
arguments advanced by authors, who have deceived themselves, in 
attempting to deprive America of her just title to this bird, since 
they have been fully refuted by the eloquent Buffon; but we may 
here introduce a sketch of its progress from America throughout 
Europe. 
The first unquestionable description of the Turkey was written 
by Oviedo, in 1525, in the summary of his History of the Indies. 
vol. i .—a a 
