The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-03-24

men.
 There are no wild beasts in Europe
 suitable for the combats which Orien-
 tals love, or they would certainly have
 been utilized. Wolves look very prom ising, and it might be thought that
 such an ill., tempered animal as the Rus sian bear could easily be reused to fight
 a comrade, but we may be sure that the experiment was tried often enough to prove that in neither case was 1t worth while to make a match. So our forefathers had to be content With the hideous sport of batting which IS not our theme. Had they possessed more ingenuity, however, some diver
 sion might have been obtained from stags. Even antelopes are used in In
 dia, though they need training. It is
 their nature to fight only at the rut-
 ting season; to make them eager for
 the fray at any time they must receive
 special treatment, and above all they
 must be kept in practice. But that
 means a great Consumption" of ante
 lopes. for they battle to the death, and
 this variety of entertainment therefore,
 is not common. Elephants and tigers
 are the favorite victims, of course; but
 nothing profitable can be said about
 their duels and certainly nothing anus ing.
 A camel fight is rather curious The lbrutes have a pair of teeth far back in the jaw which rival those of tiger, and an old male is extremely ferocious
 Knowing, however, that these, their most terrible weapons, are useless in front attack-for, vast as the oamels gape is, it cannot be stretched wide enough to bring them into action-they never try to grip the head or neck or any vital part of an antagonist. All their strategy is directed to the object of seizing one of his legs below the knee, and thus overhtrowing him by pressure; then the huge back teeth can be brought to bear upon his throat and he is no better than a corpse There are those who deny that the camel has any sense at all, and they appeal to ev- erybody who knows the beast by eXperi ence. But the rule laid down by Pope is justified in this instance also
 Its proper power to hurt each creature, Bulls push their horns and asses lift
 their heels"
 The camels way of fighting is mean and awkward-the coup de Jarnac of quadrupeds. But it is the one best suited to it's anatomy A very strong stomach, however, and a nose which has lost the sense of smell are required to enjoy this spectacle.
 Of all combats between beasts, per haps that between a horse and a tiger is the most thrilling. We have read several descriptions, and always, if we remember right, the horse was the vic- tor. But it must be stallion as cum ming as brave. To avoid the tigers spring, in a walled area of limited ex- tent is impossible The horse does not try, it is only careful to face the enemy, turning on the same spot as he circles round. At length the spring is made; it | sinks it's forequarters till the knees al- | most touch the ground and the tiger | lights unsteadily upon it's launches. 1 Instantly the hind legs lash out, with | such force that the brute is thrown | feet in a second the battle is over, so rapid and so heavy are the kicks be- slowed. In general, however, there is another round exactly similar, and | the tiger confesses itself beaten
 Such match, like a fight of camels, has some interest but the hammer and tongs" struggle between two ele- plants, or an elephant and rhinocaros, must be almost as dull in reality as in Lions and tigers are not much more scientific in their methods Oriental ingenuity, however, has devis- ed some eccentricities in this line. The Dld Greeks loved quail fight, and the sport is to be witnessed occasionally in southern Europe. Partridges are used in India That curious book, The Pri- Jate Life of an Eastern King, which made a stir in our grandfathers' time, gives a lively account of the diversion IS practised at the Court of Dude. When the table was cleared. every evening after dinner two cock par ridges were introduced They trotted lbout, comfortably and friendly being amiliar with man, until a hen dropped between them.
 There is fable of Lafontaine's, loved " French children, which begins, 'Deux coqs vivaient en paix-advini me poule" etc It's truth to nature vas demonstrated by the conduct of hose cartridges, hitherto friendly, which rufTled their feathers, crowed, md engaged upon the spot. The king would have half a dozen mains" be- ore adjourning for more sophisticated in the drawing room." ,rows were substituted for the par ridges sometimes, but the stupid hronicler only mentions this without living any details of the proceedings. A row fight should be droll But "they vent one better" in Manpur, Before he war while the Maharajah and his { oble kin spent all their time in diver ion, and employed the public revenue or that object only, the aristocratic ports were polo and pigeon fighting. 'he latter does not seem to promise ( luch amusement; but very few. of us an judge, for who in this country has cen two doves in mortal combat? ! omehow the nobles of Manipur con { rived to get up a match, and they | l ound it quite desperately exciting.
 Common pigeons there, such as ma i ure designs for pies, fetched three apiece, while a proved speci- l