[439] In a Persian manuscript written in India, it is stated that a goat may be substituted for the fawn, and that the head should be protected by a piece of leather with two holes for the horns. Vide also chapter XXXIV (page 122).
[440] Gūsht-i pusht-i māza, P.; this term occurs also in Arabic MSS. on falconry.
[441] The ordinary word for a “train” (bird or beast) for a greyhound or falcon is bavlī or bāvlī, in India bā,ūlī. The present author also uses dast-par for a bird; and for a gazelle given as a “train” maraj and dakl: the last two words are probably Arab terms; I am, however, unable to trace them.
[442] A young saker the translator had, the first time she was flown at hubara, left his fist and bound to the head of a white pony about twenty yards off. The pony spun round and round, till the rider, an assistant falconer, fell off from giddiness.
[443] A hawk, suddenly and hurriedly unhooded, will leave the fist before she spies anything at all. The hood should be removed quietly without flurry; and if the hawk be raw it is often as well not to release her at her first “bate.” From the expression of the hawk’s eye it is quite easy to see if she has spied the quarry and means business. Even if she started for the galloping assistant falconer, the saker would spy the fawn on the way and divert her attention.
[444] i.e., of course a trained greyhound; one that would follow the hawk.
[445] An unnecessary piece of cruelty. There is no reason why the gazelle should not be instantly put out of pain.
[446] i.e., meat not yet “put over.”
[447] Sīr shudan, lit. “satiated.” Eastern falconers, however, do not “gorge” their hawks. The author by the term sīr shudan merely means to give a hawk the regulation quantity.
[448] Hooded as before.