420 

THIS THE SONG THE BRAHMA SINGS. 
A POME—BY WART WILTMAN. 
*‘Tf the red-slayer think he slays, 
Or, if the slain think he is slain, 
Ye know not half the devious ways 
I keep, and pass, and turn again.”— 
Not much | —Walph Roldo Esermon. 
Listen! This is the ‘ BRAHMA’S” song— 
The true, original, imported, so dubbed “ Brahma-Pootra.” 
I sing in rhymes poetic—of metre non-particular ; 
Still in rhymes artistic :—iambies, metricalics, hexametrics, dactylics, 
runics, spondaics—but mostly odorous of “ spondulics.” 
Then listen to my pome! Where the tall pagoda’s dome 
I bring it all from home. Points upward, ’bove the foam 
O, why did I thence roam? Of ocean’s bosom some— 
If not more! 
Behold me, then! And hear my hymn. Me—basely, ungraciously called 
“THE BRAHMA-POOTRA.” 
O, vile cognomen! O, blathering, incorrigible, confusing, incomprehen- 
sible conglomerate of phrase— 
Inapt, unmeaning, mixed, indefinite, perplexing, muddled—writhing in 
tautologic chaos, and brain-puzzling to human appreciation— 
Not to say inutile, inappropriate, barbarian, senseless, cussidstoopid ! 
O, wherefore did mechanic, sailor, doctor, unknown map, clerk on propel- 
ler, or erst the keeper of insane asylum 
E’er torture our inoffensive vernacular thus, to compel the brave old 
Yankee world at large—or any other man, 
To utter, pronounce, repeat, articulate, acquire, speak, or give expression 
to this incomprehensible, 
Ideal, visionary, outlandish, inhuman, unreal, air-drawn, bungling epithet 
for a name to tack upon good, honest, solid, quiet, modest, Chinese 
domestic fowls? I reiterate my pertinent interrogation—why ? 
What had we done that we should be thus villainously assailed by an 
outside human with this 
Vituperative, reproachful, scurrilous, condemnatory, offensive, jaw- 
cracking, insulting nickname? 
Why, I ask, should we thus have been maligned, when we had done the 
world no wrong? 
Way, O shade of defunct Esculapius, didst thou permit a votary of thine 
to promulgate 
This base misnomer? And why put it into that ambitious, versatile, 
allopathic, botanic, homeopathic son’s cranium, 
Thus to compromise the “ pure” reputation of the innocent ornitholog- 
ical true representatives only of Oriental domain, 
And fasten upon us heathen Chinees this hideous appellation of double- 
breasted compound inscrutability ?—Say !— Why ? 
Behold me now! Nationalized, naturalized, domesticated, “improved.” 
“They reckon ill, who leave me out! When me they fly, 1am the wings! 
For I’m no doubter—have no doubt, and I the song the Brahma sings,” 
O, my form! O, my (sometimes) low pea-comb! 
O, my hock, and feathered middle toe! : 
O, my beak, head, wattles, earlobe, tympan, hackles, neck, crop, wings, 
toes, and claws! O, my mellifluous voice! O, my graceful poise and 
ancient “pedigree!” O, my “milk-toned color of all shades, from 
blue to creamy white!” 
O, my beauteous mould—and proud carriage—with no flunky base-born 
show of E Stingy, Luckipoor, extraction in it—nary time! 
Say Doctor—why did’st thou thus? 
O, Quixotic, phantasmagorical, Utopian, incorporeal! 
O, non-essential, flabbergastical, flagitious, flatulent! 
O, nonsensical, monstrous poppicock, indescribable! 
O Time! O Moses! O sapient inventor—say / 
Why did you thus defame us in this bombastic, highfalutin style? 
Look at me! Behold my eye, my form, my beauty, my body entire. 
_ These are all true blue. These are pure Oriental. I contain a//—I do! 
And through me the ancient Chinese fluids flow. You can bet on that 
every time—and win! 
Body, belly, bowels, lineage, meanings, proofs, purity, results, promul- 
gation, song, rhyme, art, pride, passion, pluck: 
O, I will fetch bully broods of pea-comb chickens yet! 
And wonders, still, within my truthful pedigree composite. 
Within me courses Chinese blood ! 
That same old strong pure blood! 
The original red-running Shanghai blood ! 
Examine this form—these points—these limbs—these noble proportions 
—this clear gray color—pure black, and blue, and white! These 
fire-lit eyes—this courage, volition nonchalance, superb, entire 
tout ensemble! Look a-heah! Behold what you have made me! 
‘“BRAHMA-POOTRA !” 
O, blatant, blathersome, blundering, beastly, blatherskity, billingsgate 
balderdash ! 
O, where was your Engl'sh pronouncing dictionary—Webster’s una- 
bridged—with its 1,349,467 human words, when you conceived this 
blarsted silly pagan ‘‘ Bother ’em-Pootrum” chicanery? 
O, in what had we sober barnyard Chinese birds offended, that we should 
thus have been made your victims? 
O, why—tell us why—was this villainous epithet fastened upon our hum- 
ble Chinese race? Was not “ Shanghai” bad enough ? 
AH! OH! Wuy? 
Could you find naught less foul or outre, 
But you must coin it “ Brahma-Pootra?” 
Where was the “ Wot Is It?” in those times? 
This was a name that brought in the dimes! : 
No! You threw aside “Shanghai,” and you clung to your “Brahma,” 
Ah, a nice lively mess you made with this call! 
And although ’twas so slang-y, spite of friend, foe, or farmer, 
You won, I admit it. You euchered them all! 
But we submit, and swallow it; 
Though all unfit and void of wit— 
Without one bit of sense in it. 
Yet, We’ll admit what’s writ, is WRIT! 
0, Doctor! O, Cornish-man! O, State of wooden nutmegs! O, Barnum! 
O, Burnham! O, resurrected “Knox!” O, Plaisted, Weld & Co.! 0, 
Bother ’ems! 0, Wright! O, bosh! O, fuss and feathers! O, chicken ped- 
igree. Oh, BRAHMA! Oh git out! AMEN. 



FANCIERS’ JOURNAL AND POULTRY EXCHANGE. 



Pouttry Department. 
(For Fanciers’ Journal.) 
MANDARIN DUCKS. 
EN 
PAR >: 
y 
va CRDWRNN SE? 
Tue Mandarin Duck, sometimes called the Chinese Teal, 

is the most gorgeous in appearance of all the ornamental | 
duck tribes, and deserves greater attention from breeders 
and exhibitors than it has heretofore received. It nearly 
resembles the Carolina or Wood Duck in many respects. It 
is small in size comparatively. It is closely and neatly built, 
and the plumage of the drake in grandeur almost defies 
description. The long crest on the head points backward, 
and can be raised or lowered at will. The top of the head 
is black, which color extends down to the nape of the neck, 
below which is a clearly-defined white line passing over the 
eye down to the base of the bill. The cheeks and the long 
pointed feathers of the neck, and two raised wing feathers, 
are of a bright orange-brown. The upper parts of the breast 
and back are of a glossy black, and the lower white. The 
flight feathers are black and white. The tail black, but 
white underneath. The sides of the breast are greenish- 
orange, with a clear.white marginal line. The legs area 
deep pink. From the middle of June to the middle of Sep- 
tember the drake assumes the color of the duck, which is a 
dull clive brown, mottled, and having grayish underparts. 
In China domestic specimens are highly prized, being con- 
sidered as striking examples of conjugal fidelity when paired 
or mated; hence, in that country, it is customary to carry a 
pair in the wedding processions, which are afterward pre- 
sented to the married couple as objects worthy of imitation. 
Very high prices have been paid for importations of these 
birds from China. 
The exact date of the first introduction of them into Europe 
is uncertain. In 1850 Sir John Browning obtained, with 
much difficulty, a few pairs to send to England, and nearly 
all of the domesticated specimens in Europe have been bred 
from this and another importation, but of late Mr. Bailey 
