This Variety Has A
Sharp Spur Upon The Wing An Inch Long, And Exceedingly Powerful; It Is
Used As A Weapon Of Defence For Striking, Like The Spurred Wing Of The
Plover.
I frequeutly shot ten or twelve ducks, and as many cranes, before
breakfast; among others the beautiful crested crane,
Called by the Arabs
"garranook." The black velvet head of this crane, surrounded by a golden
crest, was a favourite ornament of the Latookas, and they were
immediately arranged as crests for their helmets. The neighbourhood of
my camp would have made a fortune for a feather-dealer; it was literally
strewn with down and plumes. I was always attended every morning by a
number of Latooka boys, who were eager sportsmen, and returned to camp
daily laden with ducks and geese.
No sooner did we arrive in camp than a number of boys volunteered to
pluck the birds, which they did for the sake of the longest feathers,
with which they immediately decked their woolly heads. Crowds of boys
were to be seen with heads like cauliflowers, all dressed with the
feathers of cranes and wild ducks. It appears to be accepted, both by
the savage and civilized, that birds' feathers are specially intended
for ornamenting the human head.
It was fortunate that Nature had thus stocked Latooka with game. It was
impossible to procure any other meat; and not only were the ducks and
geese to us what the quails were to the Israelites in the desert, but
they enabled me to make presents to the natives that assured them of our
good will.
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