HKB
ground favourable, often fail. This sport, which is very exhilarating, was the delight of the late King of Persia, Ághà Moḥammad Khán, whose taste is inherited by the present sovereign.
"The novelty of these amusements interested me, and I was pleased, on accompanying a party to a village, about twenty miles from Aboo-Shahr, to see a species of hawking peculiar, I believe, to the sandy plains of Persia, on which the Ḥobárà, a noble species of bustard, is found on almost bare plains, where it has no shelter but a small shrub called 'geetuck.' When we went in quest of them, we had a party of about twenty, all well mounted. Two kinds of hawks are necessary for this sport; the first, the Cherkh (the same which is flown at the antelope), attacks them on the ground, but will not follow them on the wing; for this reason, the 'Bhyree,' a hawk well known in India, is flown the moment the Ḥobárà rises.--As we rode along in an extended line, the men who carried the Cherkhs every now and then unhooded and held them up, that they might look over the plain. The first Ḥobárà we found afforded us a proof of the astonishing quickness of sight of one of the hawks: he fluttered to be loose, and the man who held him gave him a whoop as he threw him off his hand, and set off at full speed. We all did the same. At first we only saw our hawk skimming over the plain, but soon perceived, at a distance of more than a mile, the beautiful speckled Ḥobárà, with his head erect and wings outspread, running forward to meet his adversary. The Cherkh made several unsuccessful pounces, which were either evaded or repelled by the beak or wings of the Ḥobárà, which at last found an opportunity of rising, when a Bhyree was instantly flown, and the whole party were again at full gallop. We had a flight of more than a mile, when the Ḥobárà alighted, and was killed by another Cherkh, who attacked him on the ground. This bird weighed ten pounds. We killed several others, but were not always successful, having seen our hawks twice completely beaten, during the two days we followed this fine sport."[165]
The hunting of the wild ass is another sport of the Persians and Arabs, but one of a more difficult nature. This animal is found in Syria, and in the Nubian deserts, as well as in Arabia and Persia. The more common kinds of game are gazelles, or antelopes, hares, partridges, the species of grouse called "ḳaṭà," quails, wild geese, ducks, &c. Against all of these, the hawk is generally employed, but assisted in the capture of gazelles and hares by dogs. The usual arms of the sportsmen, in the times to which the present work relates, were the bow and arrow, the cross-bow, the spear, the sword, and the mace. When the game is struck down, but not killed, by any weapon, its throat is immediately cut. If merely stunned, and then left to die, its flesh is unlawful food. Some other laws respecting the killing of game have been mentioned in a former note; but one has been there omitted which is worthy of remark, though it is often disregarded; it is, that hunting is allowable only for the purpose of procuring food, or to obtain the skin of an animal, or for the sake of destroying ferocious and dangerous beasts. Amusement is certainly, in general, the main object of the Muslim huntsman, but he does not, with this view, endeavour to prolong the chase; on the contrary, he strives to take the game as quickly as possible; for this purpose, nets are often employed, and the hunting party, forming what is called the circle of the chase (ḥalḳat eṣ-ṣeyd), surround the spot in which the game is found.