2-995-808 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Sebastopol geese at the Crystal Palace poultry show, 1860. 'Amongst the geese there were two curious specimens from Sebastopol, exhibited by Mr. T. H. D. Bayly, of Ickwell House, Biggleswade. These birds are somewhat smaller than those of this country at a mature size, but they are of the purest white and the most perfect form, whilst the more conspicuous portion of their plumage is of a curly nature, affording a very striking contrast to the feathers of the ordinary English goose. The feathers on the back are curved and frilled upwards; the secondary feathers of the wings are elongated and twisted, also the tail coverts. These geese were sent to Mr. Bayly by his uncle, John Harvey, Esq., who had been cruising in the Black Sea before he went to Tyre, where, as our readers may remember, his yacht, the Claymore, was of great service in defending the town from the Druses. Lord Dufferin brought them to England in his yacht from Sebastopol. They are the only pair of the kind in this country. Their weight when sent to the Crystal Palace was eleven pounds each. They are of precisely the same habits as our English geese. These geese were, without doubt, the most curious and singular of the novelties of the show...'. From "Illustrated London News", 1860.