The Red Cloud chief., 1889-01-11

In the oldcn times, when the star Of
Persian Empire was at its brightest.
and the land of the Lion and Sun was
one of the foremost countries of the
world. the Persians used to be great
spor:smcn. Old paintings made by
Persian artists centuries z depict
spirited scenes of the chase. and, among
other things. prove that the game OF
polo was played on horseback by the
young mobiles of Persia long before any
thing Of the kind wa known TO Eu-
rOpeans. This WAS ut a time when the
Persians were "A civilized and cultivated
people. and Europeans were neither
cultivated nor civilized. As fOSaneri-
cans. they were not yet in existence.
except the Aztccs and the aboriginal
savage we now call Indians.
All this has now changed. To-day
II is the Europeans and Americans
W 10 are civilized. and the Persians but
partially SD. With this great change
in the life Of the Eastern and Western
nations. the rise and fall of sports and
pastimes has kept even pace.
The Pcrsians no longer play polo,
either on horseback or afOot, but the
English and American sportsmen play
il both WAYS. On the other hand. fall
coming. which WAS II of the chief
sports Of Europcan PRINCES ard Loaios
in tho OLD scmi-civflized days. but
which has now gone out Of fashion in
civilized countries. is one Of the very
few sports in which the Persians nOwa-
days indulge.
On my bicycle ride through the
. abs dominions. ! saw more of falcons
:.1s stmN::.sE all other sports
- .oined. Almost all tbs Fefp no
US and Koordish chiefs keey'icons'
a1kl among their retainers Yaiways
be seen the ~falconer loafinRe Out. with
one of these birds restiy6h q little
portable perch. to whiS'e is attached
by means Of a tiny brpb n silver chain.
Beside their use ,their legitimate
field Of sport, thseeping Of falcons
is considered a a Of nobility. and 80
many well.to-/ Persian gentleman.
who. in thess fgenerate days of their
country, ap/ ogether too indolent to
care aSou/ t. still keep the falcons
for thotf of the prestige ii gives
on Jon the Tabrecz Plain In
W. ",rsia. l fell in with a party
@1noK oordish mobiles engaged in
/Sick.ieir falcons after wild pigeons.
Il. we're. Of course. greatly i'm.
ssed with my novel mede Of convey
ance. such 4 thing as a bicycle ncyai
.nsrtugtccn IA sSlr country before
They invited me 10 accompany then
rs long as I cared Ia do so and promised
me- rare sport i'm return for riding back
and forth over "a smooth stretch ~
gravel several times on my wheel 70,
their amusement
Their falcons. ] observed. instead u
being hooded in the way practised by Eu
ropcan f:lconers. had thcireyes blinded
in a nanncr that impressed me rs b.
inc cruel. Small holes had been boret
in the cyelids and threads of silk fas
tened therein. The threads were PASSED
over the top Of the falcons head and
tied so that he could not open his eyes
When the European f~alconer desired u
make a flight he used to rcmove thu
hood: the KoOrdish or Persian sports
man simply looscns the silk threads
Thus the bird is permitted to open hi
eyes, and he flies after the game witt
the little silk threads streaming from
his pierced eye'ids.
On all the plains Of Persia are miles
and miles of ancient. underground
watcr-ditchcs called kan0dts. Th'
water is conducted along these sub
terrancan passagc-ways from lar
of mountain streams and spring
"a the cities on the plains. chief!
to avoid the waste by evapora
ton and absorption that would occur
in surface bitches in a hot desert coun
try. The course Of such waterway
can always be traced by mounds q
earth above the surface. which repre-
sent the excavations from perpendicu
lar shafts. ut the bottom Of which tn
CRYSTAL water can b. seen courstni
along toward its destination. HI
shafts are man-holes for the purpose O
readily clearing out the channel Of tn
Kanaats
The Eanaats are the resort OF lock
of wild pigeona. that descend the smart
In search Of watar. as well rs to hnd
cool retreat from the heat OF the Fer
sian sun. 1t was in quest OF pigeon
thus invading the Kandofs that tn
Kooriish falconers we're turning thei
hOres' heads toward = long line o
mounds when I Joined their company
Excitement ran high rs We ap
proached the Kanoa.s. for We had al
ready seen pigeons ascending and dc
scendins the shafts in the distance
When we arrived near enough. two &c
tai.e.s were sent on in advance Z
scare ,he pigeons ou, Of their hiding
p.aces. This they wcild do by throw
ipu stones down the sl.afts. The shaft
were but on. hundred yards apart an<