The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1902-06-13

few Of us can Judge. for who IN this
country has seen two doves IN mortal
combat? Somehow the MOBILES Of Mani
pur conirlyod 10 get a match. and they
found Il quite desperately exciting.
Common pigeons there. such as ma.
ture designs for pies fetched three
halfpence apiece, while q proved specl
men OF the warrior class was valued
az E3 or 90. But how they bore them.
selves In fight Is a mystery. Mrs.
Grlmwood often saw a match as she
passed along the streets near the pail
ace, but she could never understand
how II was going. The birds beat
each other with their wings. cooling
loudly, and presently the victor was
acclaimed-for no apparent reason.
But the excitement of the owners AMI
spectators was intense-the betting
furious. When princes of the blood.
who we're a multitude lost more than
they could pay, as a matter of course.
they drew upon the Maharaiah. His pa
thence gave away at last. and an edlct
forbade any Of the royal line to en-
gage in a sport Of such fatal fascina-
ton But a bird almost more unlikely
than the pigeon has ben induced 10
fight. Sir Hope Grant witnessed q
battle Of nightingales or bulbuls, AMI
he says too briefly that 1T was anus
ing enough in its way"
The horse-hghts of the Northmen
must not be overlooked. It was
sport not unworthy Of them. for they
took part in It themselves. and risked
their lives. The owner or a friend at
tended his stallion to the fray carry
ing a short stick, with which he hit
it at the psychological moment-that
is, at the crisis Of the battle. Any one
who mas seen well bred horses fighting
will understand that this would be a
service of great danger the stick be-
ing short. But also it was the duty
of the champion to assist" his horse
when it rose on it's hind legs to attack.
How he assisted It, we cannot tell,
but evidently he must have ben quite
close-sometimes, no doubt, between
the furious brutes. Besides these OBJ
vious risks, there was a strong prob
ability that he might strike his antag-
onist's horse, or even the antagonist
himself, and, whether this were done
by accident or by an impulse Of pas
sion, signifed little In either case the
blow must be avenged. unless the RI
walls we're personal friends. A certain
Eygulf hit his own stallion, and the
stick, rebounding, hit Bjarni's shoulder
showing, by the way, how very close
they must have been, horses and men,
in the heat Of the fray.
He instantly apologized, offering SO
sheep if Bjarni would overlook the ac-
cident and the latter replied that 1t
was his own fault; for there was no ill
feeling between them. But, Of course,
he expected the sheep. In due time Ely
gulf locked them out, and Bjarni came
to receive them. Thermod, Eygulfs
father was present, and remarked,
quite mildly as we should think, that
so sheep were a "lot. Actually no
more than that-but Bjarni struck him
dead. A blood feud followed. But if
a charge Of foul play we're made, and
the parties concerned were men of in
fluence, all the people of each district
would take sides. Odd, IAN overbear-
ing fellow" struck Greti who, diving
under his horse, which was ON its
hind legs, delivered such thrust that
he knocked Odd into the river, break
ing three of his ribs. The result was
a small civil war Thus, horse fights
often ended in man fights. But that
possibly gave further attraction to the
sport.-London Standard.