There is one department of the chase, and that perhaps the most curious and interesting, which was not practised by the Greeks of classical times, though it cannot be said to have been unknown to them; I mean falconry, described by several ancient writers as it was pursued in India and in Thrace. If I give a short description of it, therefore, it must be regarded as a digression introduced for the purpose of completing, as far as possible, the circle of ancient amusements. Ctesias,[783] who was contemporary with Socrates, and published his Indian history four hundred years before Christ, seems to be the oldest writer by whom falconry is mentioned. He tells us that among the Hindùs hares and foxes were hunted with kites, ravens, and eagles, and minutely describes the way in which the birds were broken in. Having been caught while young, they were first taught to fly at tame hares and foxes in the following manner. The animals with pieces of flesh tied to them were started in sight of the falcons, which were immediately let loose and sent in pursuit. When they caught and brought back the game the flesh was given them as their reward, and by this bait and allurement they were encouraged to persevere. When sufficiently trained, they were taken to the mountains and flown against wild hares and foxes. The passion for falconry is still kept alive in the East, particularly in Persia, where the shâh-baz, or royal falcon, is flown against hares and antelopes, occasionally invested with leathers, which protect him from being torn asunder.[784] But the most daring and dangerous service in which falcons have ever been employed is the chase of the wild horse by the Turcomâns of Khiva on the eastern shores of the Caspian.[785] A more detailed description of ancient falconry than that given by Ctesias is found in a work attributed to Aristotle.[786] It is said, observes this writer, that the youth of Thrace, who were addicted to hunting, pursued their game by the assistance of hawks. On arriving upon the ground, the falcon, which had evidently been trained for the purpose, obeyed the calls of the sportsmen and chased the birds into the thickets, where they were knocked down with hunting-poles and taken. Even when the falcons themselves captured the game, they brought it to the hunters, who as in modern times gave them, as a reward, some portion of the animal. Footnote 783: Ap. Ælian. de Nat. Anim. iv. 26. Footnote 784: Sir John Malcolm’s Sketches of Persia. Footnote 785: Anthony Jenkinson in Hackluyt, v. i. p. 368. Footnote 786: De Mirab. Auscult. 128. Beckm. Hist. of Discov. and Inven. i. p. 321.