The Thousand and One Nights, Vol. I.: Commonly Called the Arabian Nights' Entertainments
General
The Thousand and One Nights, Vol. I.: Commonly Called the Arabian Nights' Entertainments
Fairy tales; Tales -- Arab countries
This breed, which is called Cherkh, is not
large, but of great beauty and symmetry.
"Another mode of running down the antelope is practised here, and still
more in the interior of Persia. Persons of the highest rank lead their
own greyhounds in a long silken leash, which passes through the collar,
and is ready to slip the moment the huntsman chooses. The well-trained
dog goes alongside the horse, and keeps clear of him when at full speed,
and in all kinds of country. When a herd of antelopes is seen, a
consultation is held, and the most experienced determine the point
towards which they are to be driven. The field (as an English sportsman
would term it) then disperse, and, while some drive the herd in the
desired direction, those with the dogs take their post on the same line,
at the distance of about a mile from each other; one of the worst dogs
is then slipped at the herd, and from the moment he singles out an
antelope the whole body are in motion. The object of the horsemen who
have greyhounds is to intercept its course, and to slip fresh dogs, in
succession, at the fatigued animal. In rare instances, the second dog
kills. It is generally the third or fourth; and even these, when the
deer is strong, and the ground favourable, often fail. This sport, which
is very exhilarating, was the delight of the late King of Persia, Ághà
Moḥammad Khán, whose taste is inherited by the present sovereign.
"The novelty of these amusements interested me, and I was pleased, on
accompanying a party to a village, about twenty miles from Aboo-Shahr,
to see a species of hawking peculiar, I believe, to the sandy plains of
Persia, on which the Ḥobárà, a noble species of bustard, is found on
almost bare plains, where it has no shelter but a small shrub called
'geetuck.' When we went in quest of them, we had a party of about
twenty, all well mounted. Two kinds of hawks are necessary for this
sport; the first, the Cherkh (the same which is flown at the antelope),
attacks them on the ground, but will not follow them on the wing; for
this reason, the 'Bhyree,' a hawk well known in India, is flown the
moment the Ḥobárà rises.--As we rode along in an extended line, the men
who carried the Cherkhs every now and then unhooded and held them up,
that they might look over the plain. The first Ḥobárà we found afforded
us a proof of the astonishing quickness of sight of one of the hawks: he
fluttered to be loose, and the man who held him gave him a whoop as he
threw him off his hand, and set off at full speed. We all did the same.
At first we only saw our hawk skimming over the plain, but soon
perceived, at a distance of more than a mile, the beautiful speckled
Ḥobárà, with his head erect and wings outspread, running forward to meet
his adversary. The Cherkh made several unsuccessful pounces, which were
either evaded or repelled by the beak or wings of the Ḥobárà, which at
last found an opportunity of rising, when a Bhyree was instantly flown,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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