DU CHAILLtJ
557
DUELING
PAUL B. DU CHAILLU
Du Chaillu (dusha'yu'}, Paul Belloni,
a distinguished traveler, was born at Paris, in 1835. He was educated at a Jesuit institution on Ga~ bun River, in West Africa, where h e was for many years a trader. He came to the United States in 1852 and was naturalized, writing about the s a m e< time a number of letters on the Ga-v bun country to the New York Tribune. He set out on an exploring expedition to West Africa, in 1855, spending four years, and traveling 8,000 miles on foot, with no companions. On his return he published an account of his expedition, called Explorations and Adventures in Equatorial Africa, in which he gave much valuable information about the country and its people. Several years later he made a second expedition to the same region. He wrote several books for young folks, among which are Gorilla Country, Wild Life under the Equator, Lost in the Jungle, The Country of the Dwarfs, Land of the Midnight Sun and Age of the Vikings. He died on May i, 1903.
Duck, a large swimming bird, with short legs and webbed feet. The duck-family embraces swans, geese and ducks. The ducks proper are divided into fresh-water ducks, sea-ducks and fishing-ducks. The
MALLARD-DUCK
river-ducks or fresh-water ducks feed in shallow water by tipping. They embrace the mallard, blue-winged and green-winged teals, pintail, wood-duck and others. The common domestic duck is descended from the mallard. The bay or sea-ducks are divers, and descend deep into the water for their food. They are the canvasback, red-head, broad-bill, eider-duck and others.
Both these kinds of ducks have bills with roughened margins, that form a sort of strainer. In gathering their food, which consists of small mollusks, Crustacea and seeds, they also take in considerable mud. They close the bill and force out the mud through the little spaces along the margins, retaining the food. The merganser or fishing-duck feeds on fish, and stands by itself. Most of the ducks nest in the north, and are hunted during the short period they rest and feed in our waters on their way north and on their return south. The black and the wood-ducks nest in the United States. As game-bird the mallard is unsurpassed, not outrivailed by the famous canvasback. They are almost vegetarians, eat sparingly of fish and other animal food. The haunt of the mallard—also called wild duck, also greenhead — is small lake or sluggish stream where wild rice and rushes grow. H ere in August and September they harvest their favorite grain, and here the sportsman tries to harvest them. Ducks fly with great rapidity, are shy and like to fly. The duck lays her eggs, pale-blue or greenish-gray, six or a dozen in number, in a ground nest made of wild hay, leaves, etc. and lined with down from her breast. She very seldom leaves her nest during the 28 days of incubation; when she does, draws the down over the eggs to keep them warm. Many of the young fall prey to the duck-hawk, to water rats and large pike.
Duckbill or Duck = Male, a peculiar mammal living in the waters of Australia. These mammals are about 18 inches long, covered with fine fur, and have webbed feet. They have a very broad, horny bill something like the bill of a duck. They burrow from under the water into the bank, and, coming above the water-level, form chambers in which they live. These are often found among the roots of a large tree. They are egg-laying mammals. The eggs are laid in an internal pouch of the mother and hatched there.
Ducking - Stool, an instrument once used for punishing scolding wives, It was made in various ways, often consisting of a chair fastened to the end of a beam, which could be lowered and raised. The woman was fastened securely in the chair, and the beam was then lowered into the water on the seesaw principle. The practice of ducking began in the latter part of the i5th century, and was common in England and America until the early part of the i8th century.
Dudevant. See SAND, GEORGE.
Dudley, Robert. See LEICESTER.
Dueling, from a Latin word meaning two men's battle, is a custom which has been common in many countries. The old ordeal by battle was a duel or judicial combat in which, instead of having a case argued in court as now, the two men fought before the judge, the one, who was victorious
