Evening star., 1893-12-14
HUNTING WITH FALCONS.
To See Just How 1t Should Be Done
One Must Go to Persia.

One Must Go to Persia.
From the st. James Gazette.
To see hawking in perfection we must go
where 1t Is still an everyday art, not as
with US mere survival. To know how to
catch and train a hawk is. in this country
an accomplishment, an amusement a trial
of skill, but in many parts of the east a
knowledge of falconry Is Indispensable Any
one going on a journey-which does not
mean reclining cushions in a railway
carriage with refreshment rooms at suit
able intervals-but riding on a horse or
camel sometimes for days together, over
sand and rocks, with nothing to eat but dry
bread, which in texture and flavor is more
like brown paper than anything else any
one, If he can catch a hawk, or, still better,
bring one with him, has fresh meat pro-
vided for him from day TO day. True ga
zelle is insipid food, but 1t is better than
nothing, and even in the driest desert birds
are to be met with. Falconcy st;ll flour
lshes IN Persia, and here it was that 10 us,
as strangers and travellers, a days quail
hawking was offered as an amusement.
On glorious September morning nd the
autumn of northern Persia is thing never
70 be forgotten-we started from the great
city or Urmi in company with our host, two
falconers, each with hawk, and two dogs.
Inc latter were mongrel-lookiag lot, but
old thelr work-that of finding and flush
Ing extraordinarily. One was q pointer,
more or less, the other a kind of a spaniel.
with a long tail and a wavy black oCat,
which had been shaved in various places
so as to give him the air of d dissipated
poodle. We rode out OF the court yard,
tnrough the streets and bazaar to the prin-
clpal gate OF the city. The hawks-sparrow-
hawks they were-sat quietly on the hand
without attempting to move or bate"
They were both haggards, that Is to say,
WIG hawks, caught, not taken from the
nest, and seemed much tanner than English
hawks. L suppose this may be accounted
Tor by the fact that British and European
hawks in general have been for SO many
years prosecuted and harried that they take
a long time to get over their fear of lnon.
whereas In the east hawks are seldom If
ever molested. The falconcr told us that
he could catch a wild hawk and teach It
10 ny from the hand in five days. This may
have been an oriental exaggeration. Tor in
England it takes considerably longer.
Inc city OF Urmi les in the great plain of
the same name. and the district is one of
the most fertile in Persia. The Nazi river,
at this season almost dried up, waters it,
and in addition water is brought down from
the mountains by a series of small canals
which, when they enter the plain are car
yards, nelds of clover, lucerne and wheat;
along the river grow poplars and willows,
while the gardens of the villagers are full
OF all kinds of fruit trees The extraordi-
nary richness of the scene is heightened
by the desolation Of its surroundings. On
the west and south are the mountains of
Kurdistan, bare. black and so steep that
snow Will scarce lie on them. On the east
is the great lake Of Urmi, as salt as the
Dead sea, surrounded by a broad marsh
which gives off under hot sun perpetual
exhalations of sulphuretted hydrogen. If,
however, there are no fish in the lake, the
marsh, despite its sulphur, teens with ami
NAL life-all kinds of water fowl swarm
among which the rosy famingo and the
pelican are the most noticeable, while over
head soar many falcon and occasionally
an eagle.
To return to our sport: we rode for about
two miles across the plain and turned into a
Held or lucerne The dogs were put in, but
the crop was very high, up to the horses
bellies, in fact, and we could only tell their
Whereabouts by the shaking and occa-
sional glimpse of the spaniePs long tail.
The first field We drew blank, but in the
second the spaniels tail stopped and began
to wiggle. The head falconer rode up to
the point, and we were all anxiously wait
ing for the birds to rise. when the horse
suddenly apparently sank into the earth
along with his rider and the hawk. There
was prolonged struggle, a great deal of
yelling, without which no oriental can exert
himself. and the three reappeared On in
quiry we found that the roof of one of the
Underground water courses had given way
and let them in. However, no harm was
done except for few cuts and scratches
AS for for the hawk, she was perfectly
unmoved. gazing with her beautiful yellow
eyes at the spaniels TAIL now, alas, quite
STILL This meant that the quail had moved
on.
Oriental birds apparently partake of the
apathy Of the country, for any European
covey would have been miles away now
but in this case 1t was not so. We rode
cautiously on another point; up got four
or five quail. Standing up in his stirrups
the falconer stretched his arm Cthe right
one, according to the invariable oriental
custom. with the hawk on iD as far as pos
sible, then bringing 1t forward and down
like bolder he launched the hawk at the
quarry, and away she went with the jessies
streaming behind her. The quail, however
was a good one, and they flew nearly fifty
yards before the hawk struck. which she did
with tremendous vigor, a cloud of feathers
flying OUT and down they came. On riding
up to the place we found the hawk "mant-
ling with conscious pride. and the quail
quite dead in her foot. Being rewarded
with the brains, she was taken up again
This was much the better-trained bird of
the two. The second hawk was flown at
the next lot, and struck her bird very
quickly, but instead of dropping with il
carried II or to a tree, from which she was
only lured after great deal of trouble
All this time large number of wild
hawks had assembled overhead. They SEEM
ed to know perfectly we'll what we were
doing, but, disdaining to stoop at a quail
waited patiently. Presently a partridge got
up of which our hawk took not the small
est notice. Away he went, making for some
rough, rocky grounds about half a mile off
He had gone about 100 yards when swishi
dowr like stone from a sling came a wild
hawk, struck the partridge full and fair
and, recovering himself directly, sailed off
with 1t In his talons toward the mountains
We had many other flights, but they were
all similar to the first, and at the end of the
DAY we had twenty quail and a landrail.
Other game is hawked in Persia-hares and
rabbits with the goshawk. gazelle with the
saker and the greyhounds and the little
bustard with the peregrine. The last is
said to be the finest branch of falconry
but we were not fortunate enough to see
any of 1t.