CHAPTER XXXIVEYESS SAKER AND GAZELLE[491]
Thesystem of training the nestlingchark͟h[492]to gazelle differs from that previously described for the passage saker.[493]
In the beginning of the Autumn you must, with your eyess, take a large number of hubara bustard so that she may become adroit and lose her rawness. As your hawk is a nestling and hence without any experience whatever, you must, after getting her to kill one or two domestic fowls, enter her by a train of a live hubara.[494]
You must first seel the hubara’s eyes, so that it may not puff itself up and drive away the young hawk,[495]which might thereafter conceive a permanent dread of this quarry. “Seel” the eyes of the train and let it run[496]for about forty paces, and then cast off yourchark͟h. She will approach it stealthily[497]and seize it. As soon as she seizes it, give her a small quantity of meat; remove her and rehood her.
In the eveningslightlyloosen the thread with which the hubara’s eyes are seeled, so that it can just see out of the top of its eyes.[498]When thechark͟hflies towards the hubara, the latter, spying her out of the tops of its eyes, will puff itself out for the attack; but when the hawk arrives close and drops to the ground, she will no longer be visible, and the hubara will therefore not charge her. When the hawk seizes the hubara, again give her a small quantity of meat.
On the next day unseelhalfof the hubara’s eyes, so that at one time it may puff itself out ready for attack, and at another lose sight of its enemy. Let the hubara get some distance, and then unhood the hawk and let her go. As soon as she binds to the hubara, cut its throat and feed up the hawk.
On the next day give another “train” of hubara, but this time with unseeled eyes. Let it get a long distance off before you unhood your hawk. Kill it, and feed up the hawk on its flesh.
Although it is no feat for a falconer to take hubara[499](for any inferior hawk will kill this quarry), still in the training of the eyess saker that is destined for gazelle, it has a special place, as will be mentioned later. This remark, however, does not apply to the netted passage falcon,[500]which has killed hubara for itself in a wild state.
From the wild falcon,[501]an hubara, however stout and strong, cannot possibly escape[502]; for what is the flight of an hubara compared to that of the wild saker? Until the wild saker overtakes the hubara, she will never relinquish the chase.
XVIIIYOUNG PASSAGE SAKER (LIGHT VARIETY) ON HUBARA
XVIIIYOUNG PASSAGE SAKER (LIGHT VARIETY) ON HUBARA
If, however, you fly atrainedpassage falcon at an hubara, it is quite a different matter; for the falcon will not be in the same highcondition she was in when wild, and so, if the quarry breaks away from her[503]and rises high, she will not be able to overtake it quickly: neither will she be so thin that she will give up all desire and hope of killing, and remain tamely seated on the ground. She will certainly commence a stern-chase[504]and soon be lost to view. God knows where she will overtake the hubara, whether twofarsak͟hoff or three.[505]Now in the first place you should not fly a passage saker at hubara.[506]If, however, you must do so, tie together four of the flight-feathers of one wing so that it shall fly clumsily, hugging the ground. The hubara will certainly stand up to do battle and the hawk will also certainly bind to it on the ground.[507]If the hubaratakes to flight, the hawk will follow only for a few yards, and seeing itself utterly outpaced will give up and sit on the ground.
The nature of the eyess, however, is different. I have had many that would take two or three eagles in a day, that would take crane and gazelle, and were yet afraid of hubara. The reason of this was that I omitted to seel the eyes of an hubara given as a “train”: the hubara puffed itself up on seeing thechark͟hcoming towards it and got ready for the attack; thechark͟hhesitated and sat on the ground; and the hubara seeing its hesitation became like a spitting[508]cat, charged and put thechark͟hto flight. God the All-knowing, has bestowed on the hubara as a weapon of defence a peculiar kind of “mutes;”[509]and although these are nothing in reality yet they have a certain awe.
XIXYOUNG PASSAGE SAKER (DARK VARIETY) ON HUBARA
XIXYOUNG PASSAGE SAKER (DARK VARIETY) ON HUBARA
When the timid lamb-natured hubára’s enraged,She becomes, in attack, like a lion uncaged.
When the timid lamb-natured hubára’s enraged,She becomes, in attack, like a lion uncaged.
When the timid lamb-natured hubára’s enraged,She becomes, in attack, like a lion uncaged.
When the timid lamb-natured hubára’s enraged,
She becomes, in attack, like a lion uncaged.
If an eyesschark͟hhas once been frightened on the ground and driven off by an hubara, nothing will ever induce her to take this quarry on the ground. But a skilful falconer may cast off thechark͟hso expertly that she takes the quarry in the air within a few yards’ distance.[510]
In short, as soon as your hawk is so thoroughly entered to hubara that she will take six or seven in a day, you must go out and fly her at as many hubara as you can, but do not feed her: even though you fly her thirty times[511]with success, do not feed her. Go on flying her till she is utterly disgusted and will not attempt even to follow the quarry. As soon as you see this, bring up a gazelle fawn with meat tied on its head, as previously described in the chapter on training the passage saker. As soon as thechark͟hbinds to the gazelle’s head, kill a fowl or a white pigeon, and feed her up so that she may learn the pleasure to be derived from taking a gazelle.
You must proceed with the training of the eyess as you did with the passage saker, but there are two or three points of difference. First: if the passage hawk binds at the first or second entering, she must be fed up; but the eyess must not be fed up, otherwise she will contract a habit and will always have to be fed up. Second: if the eyess follows the gazelle and works well but the greyhounds go wrong, she will certainly, when worn out, sit down;[512]you must then and there lure her and feed her up. Third: if the eyess works hard several times but is disappointed, and so no longer follows gazelle with her former zest, you must cure her as follows. Go and take two or three hubara with her, one a day, and feed her up on them. On the third or fourth day fly her at all the hubara you can without feeding her, till she is worn out or disgusted. Then, as on the first day, fly her at the gazelle’s head, feeding her up. After that let her rest for a day or two. Next, take into the open country a gazelle fawn that is quick and active, and secretly release it at a distance. After it set a dog, or a young greyhound too slow to overtake it. When the gazelle fawn gets to some distance, gallop after it and slip the greyhoundsas you do when hawking wild gazelle,[513]and cast off thechark͟h. When the gazelle is taken, feed up the hawk as before, that she may learn the advantage to be derived from taking this quarry and return to a liking for it. The object of entering achark͟hto hubara is as has been stated.
XXHUBARA SUNNING ITSELF
XXHUBARA SUNNING ITSELF
You may think to yourself, “I will fly my eyess at hare as has been described for the passage hawk!”[514]Now, my pupil, on no account must you do this; fly her not at hare, for this is error. First, the nature of the passage hawk is noble, while the nature of the eyess is ignoble. If, after the disappointment that your eyess has experienced at gazelle, you fly her at hare with success, you must of necessity feed her up; and as the gazelle and the hare are both ground-game[515]and akin, your hawk will say to herself, “Why should I not henceforth fly only the easier quarry? No stamped bond have I given to the Court to wrestle[516]with that other kind ofjackass!”[517]The hubara, on the contrary, is not ground-game,[518]nor has the eyess in a wild state preyed on it as has the passage hawk. By taking one or two hubara, the eyess recovers her keenness and pluck, but, on the third or fourth day, when she is overflown at hubara and unrewarded, she gets disgusted with that particular quarry; being then flown at a gazelle’s head and rewarded, she re-transfers her attention to that quarry, and by being afterwards given an easy bagged fawn, her affection for the quarry is cemented.
The system of training thechark͟hand thebālābānto gazelle is this that has been described, and it is the system of the falconers of Baghdad and of the Nomad Arabs, who are masters of this particular sport. But the people of Turkistan and Khurasan and Buzhnurd,[519]being unskilled, have a different system, and that, too, for the eyess only; for they are quite unable to train the passage saker to take evenonegazelle.
Another System of Training the“Chark͟h”to Gazelle.—Their system is this. First they dig a dry canal about three or four ells[520]deep, and four hundred or five hundred paces long. At the end, a recess or chamber is constructed, sufficiently large to contain a gazelle that is brought and confined there. A rope is tied to the gazelle’s leg, and the gazelle is, step by step, driven and beaten so that it flees to take refuge in this chamber at the farther end. This treatment is continued till the beginning of Autumn, when the people commence giving “trains”[521]to their eyess sakers.
The gazelle’s head is protected from the hawk’s claws[522]by a piece of leather that has two holes to admit the horns, and on this leather the meat is securely fastened. The gazelle, released in the canal at the required distance from the chamber according to the progress the young hawk has made, is obliged to run straight and take refuge in its accustomed retreat. If, during the run, thechark͟hbinds to the meat on its head, the rope is pulled and thechark͟hfed up on the “train’s” head. One gazelle can act as a “train”[523]for twentychark͟h.
As soon as these people have in this manner completed the training and have killed the gazelle under the hawk, they, owing to their lack of understanding, cast off four or fivechark͟hat a wild gazelle, and slip five or six greyhounds. God knows whether they ever kill anything. If they do, it is not skill; if they do not, it is utter bungling.
If the hawks take the quarry no credit is due;Their failure we must as incompetence view.If you look at the methods of sport of these TurksIn everything bungling and botchery lurks.
If the hawks take the quarry no credit is due;Their failure we must as incompetence view.If you look at the methods of sport of these TurksIn everything bungling and botchery lurks.
If the hawks take the quarry no credit is due;Their failure we must as incompetence view.If you look at the methods of sport of these TurksIn everything bungling and botchery lurks.
If the hawks take the quarry no credit is due;
Their failure we must as incompetence view.
If you look at the methods of sport of these Turks
In everything bungling and botchery lurks.
Now the system of the falconers ofBag͟hdād,Chaʿb[524]andMuʿammara[525](in which places this ancient flight with the eyess or passage saker was first “invented”) is wholly distinct and apart from that of the Turkistānīs and K͟hurāsānīs; for the former, even at a herd of two hundred gazelle, fly only a singlebālābānsuccoured by a couple of greyhounds[526]; but so well trained and intelligent are the hounds that even if a thousand gazelles come in front of them, they will seize only that one at which the hawk is stooping.
The skill of these latter people, however, is confined to trainingchark͟handbālābānto gazelle, hubara, and hare, and they practise no other flight. Skill is shown by practising every form of sport.[527]
FOOTNOTES:[489]From theGulistān: Chapter I, St. 40.[490]Kavāzha, in modern colloquial, “clamour.”[491]The late Sirdār Sher ʿAlī, the exiledWālīof Qandahar, told the translator that in Afghanistan he used to fly eyesschark͟hsat gazelle, and he considered those nestlings the best that were taken from nests either on the ground or close to the ground. His theory was that only bold birds dared to build close to the ground, and that their nestlings were, from the egg, accustomed to the sight of jackals and foxes.[492]Chark͟h-i āshiyānī.[493]Bālābān-i tūrī:tūrīfromtūr, “net.”[494]Passage sakers rarely, if ever, require to be given a “train” for this quarry, as they kill it in a wild state.[495]Bād kardan.An hubara will not hesitate to attack a hawk on the ground, puffing itself up like a turkey cock and striking forwards with its feet. Sometimes several will combine in showing front to the enemy.[496]The hubara will of course have a few flight-feathers plucked out or tied, to prevent it flying. If many feathers are plucked out it will not look formidable when it puffs itself out.Videnote499, page 117.[497]Bi-duzda raftan.[498]Chashm rā bālā-bīn kardan.[499]Though the hubara is a large and powerful bird the wild saker preys on it largely. The hubara is not a high-flying bird, and its flesh is palatable. After killing one or two, the most cowardlychark͟hbecomes wedded to this quarry. When giving a “train,” it is preferable, in some cases imperative, to give a flying one. The saker, however, takes to the hubara with little or no entering.[500]Bālābān-i tūrī.[501]Bālābān-i ṣaḥrā,ī.[502]The author means by open flight, for the hubara frequently escapes by doubling and hiding. It will squat on a perfectly open plain, the pursuing hawk alighting within five or six feet of it utterly puzzled as to what has become of its quarry. On the ground, an hubara does not at first seem afraid of a single saker or peregrine.[503]Agar hubara jilav-i ū shikast va buland shud.[504]Lābud hubara rā dar jilo andāk͟hta ʿaqab mī-kunad.[505]Sakers are passionately fond of the hubara as a quarry: they will never relinquish a chase as long as there is any chance of success: they will fly the hubara even when they are not very hungry. The hubara, when put up with a hawk just behind it, flies faster than is commonly supposed, especially in the Spring when it is fat and in high condition. A passage saker intended for this quarry should not, I think, weighlessthan 2 lbs. 4 oz. and should have been brought into hard condition by being exercised twice daily at the lure; twenty-five stoops at each exercise are sufficient. A wild saker seldom exceeds 2 lbs. 8 oz. in weight. A haggard of the editor’s that weighed when caught 2 lbs. 9½ oz., when killing hubara weighed 2 lbs. 6½ oz. (For kite 2 lbs. 3 oz. will be found a sufficient, and generally a suitable weight. For hare a weight of 2 lbs. issufficient. Beginners should note these weights and so spare themselves much disappointment.)[506]Only passage sakers are, in India, flown at hubara. They are usually flown out of the hood, but in districts full of ravines they are trained to “wait on.” The author, like most natives of India also, seems to think that hubara can be killed only on the ground. As already mentioned in the above note, to fly houbara successfully sakers must be in high condition,i.e., they must be kept well exercised and well fed, a simple fact that most Eastern falconers forget. I have seen Arab falconers stuffing their newly caught sakers withsuetand skin. InArabia Desertaby C. M. Doughty we read, “The Gate Arabs had robbed more than a dozen young falcons.... Their diet was small desert vermin, lizards, rats, insects ... on finding naught they maintain them with a little dough; in the nomad life they pluck for them those monstrous bluish blood-sucker ticks which cleave to the breasts of their camels.” The translator once gave a school-boy a trainedlagaṛ: when pocket-money and meat failed, the boy fed it on boiled rice. Even after this treatment it flew and killed a wild raven.[507]Wild hawks seldom if ever kill on the ground. They stoop at the hubara, knock it about and put it up. Many trained hawks even will not, when in high condition, bind to an hubara on the ground but stoop at it till the falconer flushes the quarry.[508]Burrāq shuda.Burrāqis the long-haired “Persian” cat;gurbais the general term for a cat.[509]Chalqūzorchalg͟hūz; excrement of birds only. “Mutes,” the technical term for the droppings of hawks. When the hubara is feeding on certain juicy crops, its excrement is thin and glutinous and has an offensive odour. Though the excrement is ejected through fear, it is a very effective weapon. A hawk that is smeared, is unable to fly properly, possibly because the wind strikes cold through the damp feathers. Some of the best hubara hawks, peregrines and sakers, always bind to the wing, and so escape being buffeted or befouled.[510]Agar dast-i ustād-i k͟hūb bāshad dūr nīst dast-raw biyandāzī dar havā bi-gīrad.[511]Sī dast.[512]Az k͟hastagī rū-yi rū nishasta ast: exact meaning doubtful.[513]Ahū-yi ṣaḥrā,ī.[514]The author has not mentioned this flight.[515]Charanda,lit.“grazers.”[516]Du chār u du-lashma bi-shavam:lashmP. = smooth-bodied:du-lashma shudanis properly to wrestle together without either opponent getting a good grip.[517]Bā hamchu narra khar-ī.[518]Az sink͟h-i charanda nīst:sink͟hin m. c. =qism.[519]Buzhnurd, the capital of a district of the same name, is about 180 miles from the river Atrek, which flows into the south-east corner of the Caspian.[520]Si chār yak zaraʿ(m. c.) “about 3 or 4 ells”;zaraʿ(Pers. for Ar.zirāʿ) is the Persian ell of about 40 inches.[521]—ki binā-yi marj u būlī kardan-i chark͟hā-yi shān ast. The wordbūlīis alsobolī,bawlī,bavlīandbāvlī.Videalso note523, page 123.[522]Mik͟hlab.[523]Dakl u bolī, “train”; in note521on page 122marj u bolī. The author in a marginal note (page 117 of the text) givesdast-paras an equivalent fordakl.Dast-paror “hand-flight” can, however, refer only to a bird.Bā,ūlīis, in India, a train given either to a hawk or a greyhound, etc., etc.; it has a general application.Videalso page 141, note614.[524]TheChaʿb(properlyKaʿb) Arabs are a tribe inhabiting the southern portion ofK͟huzistān.[525]Muʿammara: the writer must meanMuḥammarahin K͟huzistān, 26 miles belowBaṣrah: it is ruled by an Arab Sheikh.[526]Tāzi-yi qūsh-shinās, a greyhound trained to hunt in company with a hawk.ʿĀrif, “knowing, intelligent.”[527]An ambiguous sentence in the original: it may mean “flying at every kind of quarry.”
[489]From theGulistān: Chapter I, St. 40.
[489]From theGulistān: Chapter I, St. 40.
[490]Kavāzha, in modern colloquial, “clamour.”
[490]Kavāzha, in modern colloquial, “clamour.”
[491]The late Sirdār Sher ʿAlī, the exiledWālīof Qandahar, told the translator that in Afghanistan he used to fly eyesschark͟hsat gazelle, and he considered those nestlings the best that were taken from nests either on the ground or close to the ground. His theory was that only bold birds dared to build close to the ground, and that their nestlings were, from the egg, accustomed to the sight of jackals and foxes.
[491]The late Sirdār Sher ʿAlī, the exiledWālīof Qandahar, told the translator that in Afghanistan he used to fly eyesschark͟hsat gazelle, and he considered those nestlings the best that were taken from nests either on the ground or close to the ground. His theory was that only bold birds dared to build close to the ground, and that their nestlings were, from the egg, accustomed to the sight of jackals and foxes.
[492]Chark͟h-i āshiyānī.
[492]Chark͟h-i āshiyānī.
[493]Bālābān-i tūrī:tūrīfromtūr, “net.”
[493]Bālābān-i tūrī:tūrīfromtūr, “net.”
[494]Passage sakers rarely, if ever, require to be given a “train” for this quarry, as they kill it in a wild state.
[494]Passage sakers rarely, if ever, require to be given a “train” for this quarry, as they kill it in a wild state.
[495]Bād kardan.An hubara will not hesitate to attack a hawk on the ground, puffing itself up like a turkey cock and striking forwards with its feet. Sometimes several will combine in showing front to the enemy.
[495]Bād kardan.An hubara will not hesitate to attack a hawk on the ground, puffing itself up like a turkey cock and striking forwards with its feet. Sometimes several will combine in showing front to the enemy.
[496]The hubara will of course have a few flight-feathers plucked out or tied, to prevent it flying. If many feathers are plucked out it will not look formidable when it puffs itself out.Videnote499, page 117.
[496]The hubara will of course have a few flight-feathers plucked out or tied, to prevent it flying. If many feathers are plucked out it will not look formidable when it puffs itself out.Videnote499, page 117.
[497]Bi-duzda raftan.
[497]Bi-duzda raftan.
[498]Chashm rā bālā-bīn kardan.
[498]Chashm rā bālā-bīn kardan.
[499]Though the hubara is a large and powerful bird the wild saker preys on it largely. The hubara is not a high-flying bird, and its flesh is palatable. After killing one or two, the most cowardlychark͟hbecomes wedded to this quarry. When giving a “train,” it is preferable, in some cases imperative, to give a flying one. The saker, however, takes to the hubara with little or no entering.
[499]Though the hubara is a large and powerful bird the wild saker preys on it largely. The hubara is not a high-flying bird, and its flesh is palatable. After killing one or two, the most cowardlychark͟hbecomes wedded to this quarry. When giving a “train,” it is preferable, in some cases imperative, to give a flying one. The saker, however, takes to the hubara with little or no entering.
[500]Bālābān-i tūrī.
[500]Bālābān-i tūrī.
[501]Bālābān-i ṣaḥrā,ī.
[501]Bālābān-i ṣaḥrā,ī.
[502]The author means by open flight, for the hubara frequently escapes by doubling and hiding. It will squat on a perfectly open plain, the pursuing hawk alighting within five or six feet of it utterly puzzled as to what has become of its quarry. On the ground, an hubara does not at first seem afraid of a single saker or peregrine.
[502]The author means by open flight, for the hubara frequently escapes by doubling and hiding. It will squat on a perfectly open plain, the pursuing hawk alighting within five or six feet of it utterly puzzled as to what has become of its quarry. On the ground, an hubara does not at first seem afraid of a single saker or peregrine.
[503]Agar hubara jilav-i ū shikast va buland shud.
[503]Agar hubara jilav-i ū shikast va buland shud.
[504]Lābud hubara rā dar jilo andāk͟hta ʿaqab mī-kunad.
[504]Lābud hubara rā dar jilo andāk͟hta ʿaqab mī-kunad.
[505]Sakers are passionately fond of the hubara as a quarry: they will never relinquish a chase as long as there is any chance of success: they will fly the hubara even when they are not very hungry. The hubara, when put up with a hawk just behind it, flies faster than is commonly supposed, especially in the Spring when it is fat and in high condition. A passage saker intended for this quarry should not, I think, weighlessthan 2 lbs. 4 oz. and should have been brought into hard condition by being exercised twice daily at the lure; twenty-five stoops at each exercise are sufficient. A wild saker seldom exceeds 2 lbs. 8 oz. in weight. A haggard of the editor’s that weighed when caught 2 lbs. 9½ oz., when killing hubara weighed 2 lbs. 6½ oz. (For kite 2 lbs. 3 oz. will be found a sufficient, and generally a suitable weight. For hare a weight of 2 lbs. issufficient. Beginners should note these weights and so spare themselves much disappointment.)
[505]Sakers are passionately fond of the hubara as a quarry: they will never relinquish a chase as long as there is any chance of success: they will fly the hubara even when they are not very hungry. The hubara, when put up with a hawk just behind it, flies faster than is commonly supposed, especially in the Spring when it is fat and in high condition. A passage saker intended for this quarry should not, I think, weighlessthan 2 lbs. 4 oz. and should have been brought into hard condition by being exercised twice daily at the lure; twenty-five stoops at each exercise are sufficient. A wild saker seldom exceeds 2 lbs. 8 oz. in weight. A haggard of the editor’s that weighed when caught 2 lbs. 9½ oz., when killing hubara weighed 2 lbs. 6½ oz. (For kite 2 lbs. 3 oz. will be found a sufficient, and generally a suitable weight. For hare a weight of 2 lbs. issufficient. Beginners should note these weights and so spare themselves much disappointment.)
[506]Only passage sakers are, in India, flown at hubara. They are usually flown out of the hood, but in districts full of ravines they are trained to “wait on.” The author, like most natives of India also, seems to think that hubara can be killed only on the ground. As already mentioned in the above note, to fly houbara successfully sakers must be in high condition,i.e., they must be kept well exercised and well fed, a simple fact that most Eastern falconers forget. I have seen Arab falconers stuffing their newly caught sakers withsuetand skin. InArabia Desertaby C. M. Doughty we read, “The Gate Arabs had robbed more than a dozen young falcons.... Their diet was small desert vermin, lizards, rats, insects ... on finding naught they maintain them with a little dough; in the nomad life they pluck for them those monstrous bluish blood-sucker ticks which cleave to the breasts of their camels.” The translator once gave a school-boy a trainedlagaṛ: when pocket-money and meat failed, the boy fed it on boiled rice. Even after this treatment it flew and killed a wild raven.
[506]Only passage sakers are, in India, flown at hubara. They are usually flown out of the hood, but in districts full of ravines they are trained to “wait on.” The author, like most natives of India also, seems to think that hubara can be killed only on the ground. As already mentioned in the above note, to fly houbara successfully sakers must be in high condition,i.e., they must be kept well exercised and well fed, a simple fact that most Eastern falconers forget. I have seen Arab falconers stuffing their newly caught sakers withsuetand skin. InArabia Desertaby C. M. Doughty we read, “The Gate Arabs had robbed more than a dozen young falcons.... Their diet was small desert vermin, lizards, rats, insects ... on finding naught they maintain them with a little dough; in the nomad life they pluck for them those monstrous bluish blood-sucker ticks which cleave to the breasts of their camels.” The translator once gave a school-boy a trainedlagaṛ: when pocket-money and meat failed, the boy fed it on boiled rice. Even after this treatment it flew and killed a wild raven.
[507]Wild hawks seldom if ever kill on the ground. They stoop at the hubara, knock it about and put it up. Many trained hawks even will not, when in high condition, bind to an hubara on the ground but stoop at it till the falconer flushes the quarry.
[507]Wild hawks seldom if ever kill on the ground. They stoop at the hubara, knock it about and put it up. Many trained hawks even will not, when in high condition, bind to an hubara on the ground but stoop at it till the falconer flushes the quarry.
[508]Burrāq shuda.Burrāqis the long-haired “Persian” cat;gurbais the general term for a cat.
[508]Burrāq shuda.Burrāqis the long-haired “Persian” cat;gurbais the general term for a cat.
[509]Chalqūzorchalg͟hūz; excrement of birds only. “Mutes,” the technical term for the droppings of hawks. When the hubara is feeding on certain juicy crops, its excrement is thin and glutinous and has an offensive odour. Though the excrement is ejected through fear, it is a very effective weapon. A hawk that is smeared, is unable to fly properly, possibly because the wind strikes cold through the damp feathers. Some of the best hubara hawks, peregrines and sakers, always bind to the wing, and so escape being buffeted or befouled.
[509]Chalqūzorchalg͟hūz; excrement of birds only. “Mutes,” the technical term for the droppings of hawks. When the hubara is feeding on certain juicy crops, its excrement is thin and glutinous and has an offensive odour. Though the excrement is ejected through fear, it is a very effective weapon. A hawk that is smeared, is unable to fly properly, possibly because the wind strikes cold through the damp feathers. Some of the best hubara hawks, peregrines and sakers, always bind to the wing, and so escape being buffeted or befouled.
[510]Agar dast-i ustād-i k͟hūb bāshad dūr nīst dast-raw biyandāzī dar havā bi-gīrad.
[510]Agar dast-i ustād-i k͟hūb bāshad dūr nīst dast-raw biyandāzī dar havā bi-gīrad.
[511]Sī dast.
[511]Sī dast.
[512]Az k͟hastagī rū-yi rū nishasta ast: exact meaning doubtful.
[512]Az k͟hastagī rū-yi rū nishasta ast: exact meaning doubtful.
[513]Ahū-yi ṣaḥrā,ī.
[513]Ahū-yi ṣaḥrā,ī.
[514]The author has not mentioned this flight.
[514]The author has not mentioned this flight.
[515]Charanda,lit.“grazers.”
[515]Charanda,lit.“grazers.”
[516]Du chār u du-lashma bi-shavam:lashmP. = smooth-bodied:du-lashma shudanis properly to wrestle together without either opponent getting a good grip.
[516]Du chār u du-lashma bi-shavam:lashmP. = smooth-bodied:du-lashma shudanis properly to wrestle together without either opponent getting a good grip.
[517]Bā hamchu narra khar-ī.
[517]Bā hamchu narra khar-ī.
[518]Az sink͟h-i charanda nīst:sink͟hin m. c. =qism.
[518]Az sink͟h-i charanda nīst:sink͟hin m. c. =qism.
[519]Buzhnurd, the capital of a district of the same name, is about 180 miles from the river Atrek, which flows into the south-east corner of the Caspian.
[519]Buzhnurd, the capital of a district of the same name, is about 180 miles from the river Atrek, which flows into the south-east corner of the Caspian.
[520]Si chār yak zaraʿ(m. c.) “about 3 or 4 ells”;zaraʿ(Pers. for Ar.zirāʿ) is the Persian ell of about 40 inches.
[520]Si chār yak zaraʿ(m. c.) “about 3 or 4 ells”;zaraʿ(Pers. for Ar.zirāʿ) is the Persian ell of about 40 inches.
[521]—ki binā-yi marj u būlī kardan-i chark͟hā-yi shān ast. The wordbūlīis alsobolī,bawlī,bavlīandbāvlī.Videalso note523, page 123.
[521]—ki binā-yi marj u būlī kardan-i chark͟hā-yi shān ast. The wordbūlīis alsobolī,bawlī,bavlīandbāvlī.Videalso note523, page 123.
[522]Mik͟hlab.
[522]Mik͟hlab.
[523]Dakl u bolī, “train”; in note521on page 122marj u bolī. The author in a marginal note (page 117 of the text) givesdast-paras an equivalent fordakl.Dast-paror “hand-flight” can, however, refer only to a bird.Bā,ūlīis, in India, a train given either to a hawk or a greyhound, etc., etc.; it has a general application.Videalso page 141, note614.
[523]Dakl u bolī, “train”; in note521on page 122marj u bolī. The author in a marginal note (page 117 of the text) givesdast-paras an equivalent fordakl.Dast-paror “hand-flight” can, however, refer only to a bird.Bā,ūlīis, in India, a train given either to a hawk or a greyhound, etc., etc.; it has a general application.Videalso page 141, note614.
[524]TheChaʿb(properlyKaʿb) Arabs are a tribe inhabiting the southern portion ofK͟huzistān.
[524]TheChaʿb(properlyKaʿb) Arabs are a tribe inhabiting the southern portion ofK͟huzistān.
[525]Muʿammara: the writer must meanMuḥammarahin K͟huzistān, 26 miles belowBaṣrah: it is ruled by an Arab Sheikh.
[525]Muʿammara: the writer must meanMuḥammarahin K͟huzistān, 26 miles belowBaṣrah: it is ruled by an Arab Sheikh.
[526]Tāzi-yi qūsh-shinās, a greyhound trained to hunt in company with a hawk.ʿĀrif, “knowing, intelligent.”
[526]Tāzi-yi qūsh-shinās, a greyhound trained to hunt in company with a hawk.ʿĀrif, “knowing, intelligent.”
[527]An ambiguous sentence in the original: it may mean “flying at every kind of quarry.”
[527]An ambiguous sentence in the original: it may mean “flying at every kind of quarry.”