The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-10-25
SPORTS OF THE HINDOOS.
Curious ADJUSTMENTS In the East With
Buffaloes. Rams and Cheetahs.


have become more congenial to the ra-
jah and the nawab of today than the
elaborate sports and pastimes that
whiled away the long days of his ances-
tors. In some of the Rajput states, how
ever, an effort is still made not to allow
the ancient habits TO fall wholly into
desuetude. OF all the great dynasties of
the continent the Rajputs beast the
proudest descent, and the origin of the
sovereign houses is hidden in the mist
of time. In Ulwur the maharaja, who,
by his kindliness of disposition and
alertuess of intelligence, gives the most
hopeful. promise of future fame, is still
a minor, and his territory is under the
immediate control of capable officer
of the Indian government. No state in
Rajputana has greater reputation for
its breed of horses. 1t used in the old
days to be a famous place for fights be-
tween wild beasts and birds, and
though the contests are now quite free
from all stain of cruelty the show is
carefully kept up.
One afternoon of my stay there saw
in the palace grounds full exhibition
of the old kind. The princely mansion,
built i'll the old residency style, stands
in a charming compound, or park,
with exceptional surroundings, in that
it has before it large expanse of real
turf, kept green by constant flooding,
that pleasantly sets off its white walls
and its red sun blinds.
First of all there was parade of the
show horses and ponies, Arab and coun-
try bred. One by one, as in a circus,
they were put through their tricks and
PAGES by the superintendent of the sta
bles, fine old Mussulman, with red
whiskers, who had been all his life in
the service of the maharaja S family. A
big piebald was particularly clever at
walking on his hind legs and hopping
on three. holding up the near fore leg.
AfterWard came performing parrot,
which, by a nice adjustment of weights,
was made TO twist loaded stick round
and round until / thought his neck
would be wrung off. Then followed some
more business" ON the same lines.
This was but the preliminary to the ex-
hibition of the afternoon, for, led along
the road, there marched two by two
buffaloes, rams, black buck and in the
rear, a single cheetah The last named |
was purely for show The other sorts
not long ago had to fight out their bat
ties to the bitter end.
Now the horns are muffied and the |
contest has become a game, which the |
animals a,.a ne u-o11 drilled -, nc N bon5 |
of acrobats. Two rams, half black, half |
white, are led TO either side of the grass |
plot and then let go at one another full (
speed. With terrific bang their heads |
come together. You would think that |
their skulls must be broken, but instead |
they rebound from the encounter not !
one penny the worse, and after a few |
such trials Of hardness they are led |
quietly away. After them the black |
bucks come to the front and wrestle !
with their horns interlaced until their |
keepers think they have had enough of !
1T. In like manner the old buffaloes |
struggle and struggle, not able to do |
more than the champion of the modern |
ring with the gloves on. The cheetah |
was not asked to display his prowess,
but was told that when some little !
time before lie was put on quarry he had !
been so idle that he absolutely refused |
to do his work. In some states, how
ever, cheetah hunts still take place, but
as the cheetah generally takes the
smaller buck no real interest makes up
for the cruelty of the sport. Cocks and !
Quails, with their fighting power gone,
followed the animals into the arena.
The spurs OF the cocks were carefully
covered, while the quails were separat-
ed the moment they began to fight in
real earnest. AS for the quails for sheer
pugnacity and desperate courage, they
carry off the palm. 1t is true they had
a stimulant not given to the other fight
ers of the palace, for in their sanded
circle was placed hen, for whose favor
they evidently believed they were con-
tending. How far their gallantry would
have carried them if they had been al
lowed to peck at one another's eyes. in
real earnest l know not, but it is prob
able that they would both have been
left for dead had not their keepers called
"time' at the crucial moment Nobody
can complain that the fighting aristoc.
racy of the Rajput race clings with
pride to its ancestral pastimes,
which are but i'll supplanted by the alien
and borrowed amusements of our own
people. London Telegraph.