Defiles the verdant plain. Nor idle stand The trusty slaves; with pointed spears, they pierce Through their tough hides; or at their gaping mouths An easier passage find. The king of brutes, In broken roarings, breathes his last; the bear Grumbles in death; nor can his spotted skin, Though sleek it shine, with varied beauties gay, Save the proud pard from unrelenting fate. The battle bleeds; grim slaughter strides along, Glutting her greedy jaws, grins o’er her prey. Men, horses, dogs, fierce beasts of every kind, A strange promiscuous carnage, drench’d in blood, And heaps on heaps amass’d. What yet remain Alive, with vain assault, contend to break The impenetrable line: others, whom fear Inspires with self-preserving wiles, beneath The bodies of the slain for shelter creep; Aghast they fly, or hide their heads, dispersed. And now, perchance, had Heaven but pleased, the work Of death had been complete; and Aurengzebe, By one dread frown, extinguish’d half their race; When lo! the bright sultanas of his court Appear, and to his ravish’d eyes display Those charms, but rarely to the day reveal’d. [Sidenote: BOOK II THE CHASE v. 512-523.] Lowly they bend, and humbly sue, to save The vanquish’d host. What mortal can deny, When suppliant beauty begs? At his command, Opening to right and left, the well-train’d troops Leave a large void for their retreating foes. Away they fly, on wings of fear upborne, To seek, on distant hills, their late abodes. Ye proud oppressors, whose vain hearts exult In wantonness of power, ’gainst the brute race, Fierce robbers, like yourselves, a guiltless war Wage uncontroll’d; here quench your thirst of blood: But learn, from Aurengzebe, to spare mankind. [Illustration] [Illustration: Book III] Argument. _Of King Edgar, and his imposing a tribute of wolves’ heads upon the kings of Wales: from hence a transition to fox-hunting, which is described in all its parts. Censure of an over-numerous pack. Of the several engines to destroy foxes, and other wild beasts. The steel-trap described, and the manner of using it. Description of the pitfall for the lion; and another for the elephant. The ancient way of hunting the tiger with a mirror. The Arabian manner of hunting the wild boar. Description of the royal stag-chase at Windsor Forest. Concludes with an address to his Majesty, and an eulogy upon mercy._ [Illustration]