I will now, my pupil, describe to you the method of training the nestling chark͟h[462] to eagles.[463]
In one point the nestling chark͟h excels the rest of the black-eyed race: it can take eagles, the rest cannot.[464]
When you first take the eyess from the eyrie, feed her well, that she may grow fat and stout and strong, and may, by taking her quarry in style, exhibit all her pride and power.
Now when the constellation of Canopus rises,[465] take her up, hood her and carry her: train her after the manner that falcons are always trained, until she obeys the lure and comes to it readily from any spot where she may be placed.
Now lower her condition a little: let her lose just a little flesh. Procure a young Egyptian vulture[466] and bind some meat on its back. Twice daily, in the cool of the morning and of the evening, show it to her and then let it fly[467] in such a manner that your hawk may take it. If you are unable to procure a young Egyptian vulture, get a “black”[468] buzzard, or failing a black one a “yellow” one, but in any case you must bind the hind claw[469] to the “tarsus.”[470] Fly your hawk at this “train,” twice in the morning and twice in the evening,[471] and feed her up on it.
Should you be able to procure a second “train” of any of the three birds mentioned, then on the third day cut the throat of the first “train.” Be careful, however, to conceal its head, for your hawk must learn to bind only to the back. After killing the “train” and feeding your hawk on the meat that is tied to its back, cut open the back, and let your hawk eat a little of the exposed flesh.[472] She must not see the flesh of any other part except the back. During these days that you are entering your hawk to the “hand-train,”[473] as you increase the distance at which you release the train, you must decrease the amount of meat that is tied to its back, till at last no meat at all is left and your hawk binds to the ungarnished back of the “train.”
The two[474] uppermost flight-feathers in each wing of the birds mentioned above—the feathers called yār māliq by the Turks[474]—are broad and large. Take these feathers, two on each side, and placing them on top of each other bind the garnishing meat to them, so that the meat will be conspicuous during flight.
After you have killed the train and fed the hawk, you must, by giving her washed meat,[475] “set” her as previously described. Then go out into the open country and find a young Egyptian vulture, which in colouration resembles a young eagle, and fly your hawk at it. She will surely take it.[476] Kill it and feed your hawk well.[477]
“Set” your hawk the next day; and the day after that, go out and find a būq-k͟hura,[478] which has before been described as the most ignoble of the eagles. Get close to it, and so cast off your hawk that by the time the eagle has risen from the ground, your chark͟h will have reached it and bound to its back. With all haste make in and secure the būq-k͟hura, and, killing a dark-coloured chicken, present its flesh from underneath the wing of the būq-k͟hura, and so feed your hawk; but feed her sparingly. Release the būq-k͟hura[479] from the claws of the chark͟h and keep it by you alive.
On the morrow when your hawk is hungry, go out into the open country. Bind the hind claw of the būq-k͟hura to its shank, and let it fly, giving it a long start. Then unhood[480] and cast off your hawk. She will certainly take it. Kill the būq-k͟hura and feed the hawk.
Now again “set” your hawk and fly her at a wild būq-k͟hura, feeding her up when she takes it. This you must do three or four times.[481]
Of one thing you must be careful: during these seven or eight days that you are flying your hawk and feeding her on warm flesh, take care that she does not become fat and get above herself.
After taking with her four or five būq-k͟hura, fly her at one of the black eagles that have no spots or markings.[482] Next fly her at a spotted ā,īna-lī eagle. After she has taken one of the latter, you can fly her at any species you choose. Should the eagle you are going to fly her at be of a large species (such as the karlak, or the kūjīkān, or the “moon-tailed eagle,” all three of which are the largest of the eagle species), it can, by the cries and shouts of your horsemen, be made so to lose its head as to become incapable of defending itself.
Supposing, for instance, you spy an eagle seated on the ground in a good open plain where there are neither small water-courses nor hillocks[483]—a spot where you can gallop without caution or delay—make the eagle face the wind[484] and gallop on to it,[485] and placing your trust on Almighty God, cast off your chark͟h. The eagle will see the hawk making for it but will not conceive the possibility of the hawk’s attacking it, for, poor thing, it is ignorant of the trickery of man. Calmly and leisurely it will spread its wings saying to itself, “This chark͟h, whose dog is it that it should approach me?”
If the eagle be a large strong female, it will certainly carry the chark͟h for about a thousand[486] paces, but if a weak tiercel it will not drag it more than half that distance. You must gallop hard and keep close up to or under the eagle, until it tires and settles on the ground. It will then run, flapping and trailing its wings like a hunted chicken that is tired out. You must all pursue it with shouts and cries.
As soon as the eagle takes to running like a chicken, one horseman must detach himself and intercept it in front. Now when that son of a dog[487] sees that it cannot fly, that its path is blocked in front, and that shouts and yells arise on all sides of it, it will have no recollection of the chark͟h that has fastened on to its back: from rage and bewilderment it will drive its talons into the ground. Now, my pupil, on no account must you treat this son of a dog like other quarry. Do not in your excitement cast yourself upon it. On no account! on no account do so—unless you seek your own destruction. As soon as the eagle has convulsively clutched the ground, you must dismount in all haste, and approaching it from behind firmly place your long boot on its back just between the shoulders, and so render it defenceless. Then cautiously advance your further hand from behind it and firmly grasp its legs, keeping one leg on the eagle the while. Then cut its throat, split open its breast, bring out the heart, and feed your hawk. You must know that the flesh of eagles is greasy and indigestible, so do not overfeed your hawk or she will fall ill.[488] You must not imagine that an eagle’s flesh is the same as a pigeon’s; so feed her lightly:—
The next time you go out, fly your hawk at any species of eagle you like.
Now you must understand that although the hawk does, temporarily, cripple the eagle, yet it is owing to the screams and yells of the riding party that the eagle loses its wits and gets taken. If you want to test this, fly your hawk at an eagle as though you were flying a goshawk at a partridge, and ride slowly and quietly after the quarry. Note how the eagle will with its foot sweep the hawk off its back while exclaiming:—
The awe and fear inspired by man is greater than that inspired by any animal, and especially terrifying is the human voice. God has given to all his creatures, birds, beasts, etc., a weapon of defence for their safety, and man’s weapons are his voice and the dread his presence inspires; every thing that creeps, or crawls, or flies, even the lion, flees from the sound[490] and terror of man—how much more so the eagle. The eagle is captured only by the artifice of the falconer: for what sort of a dog is the chark͟h to master the eagle?
This sport with the chark͟h and eagle must be pursued in the plains: in hilly country it is impossible.
Eyess Shahin and Eagles.—The eyess shahin is capable of being trained to eagles, but as it is small and delicate, it is not employed for this quarry.
[460] Ziring or zaring, i.e., not half-starved or crushed in spirit.
[461] The Rev. H. B. Tristram writing on the ornithology of North Africa (Ibis 1859) mentions “eagles, kites and sand-grouse” as quarry flown at by the Arab Shaikhs. [Elsewhere the same writer says that the Lanner and Barbary falcon are flown at sand-grouse. No Indian falconer, however, has succeeded with the latter quarry: it is too fast, and the hawk and quarry soon disappear from view. The sand-grouse will not let the hawk get above it when the hawk is “waiting on.” Mr. Tristram does not mention what device or artifice the Arabs adopt.] The author of the Land and the Book (W. M. Thomson, D.D.) says of trained falcons, in chapter xxv, “they will even bring down the largest eagle in the same way....”
[462] Chark͟h-i āshiyānī.
[463] Qara-qūsh.
[464] Vide, however, page 44.
[466] Kachal charkas (or karkas), lit. “the scald-headed vulture.” The young of this species is brown and not white.
[467] Parānīdan, “to cause to fly.” The author always uses this word for showing a train to a hawk and then letting it fly. In the preliminary lesson or lessons, one or two flight-feathers would probably be tied together to make the train fly as slowly as possible, and a creance would be fastened to a leg. Vide note 414, page 97.
[468] Vide chapter XII.
[469] Qullāb or “hook” (for Ar. kullāb); the “talons” of old falconers.
[470] The “stalke” of old authors.
[471] After the first flight the hawk would be given only a beakful or two of meat.
[472] From the back she would get little more than a taste of warm blood.
[473] Dast-par. It must be recollected that sakers are not easily spoilt by being given numerous trains, as are peregrines.
[474] On page 168, chap. LII, it is stated that there are three feathers in each wing so named, and that it is the Kurds who call these feathers yār māliq. Vide also chap. LX.
[475] Ishtihā dādan.
[476] The Egyptian vulture is frequently found sitting on the ground and will let a horseman or footman approach within a few feet. It rises slowly, and as it does not shift from the stoop it is at once taken. It does not seem to have any means of defence—except its odour.
[477] Of course on other flesh.
[478] On page 31 the būq-k͟hura is described as an eagle always found on marshes and reed beds. It eats frogs, dead fish, etc., and occasionally a wounded duck.
[479] This should be done stealthily at the time the chicken is substituted, or after the hawk has been re-hooded; for the hawk must be induced to believe that it has eaten the quarry it captured. With a thoroughly-made hawk no great stealth need be observed.
[480] Rihā kardan, “to release.” The author uses this word to signify setting free a train secretly while the hawk is still hooded. Vide note 467, page 111.
[481] The “train” should not be allowed to get ragged. It should each time be given a longer start. If it settles on the ground, it should be allowed to look about it till it regains heart and takes wing of its own accord. It is also well to go to a different spot each time.
[482] Apparently the black eagle described on page 31.
[483] Māhūr, any up and down ground.
[484] Sīna-yi qara-qūsh rā bi-bād bi-dih, “give the eagle’s breast to the wind”; the author’s meaning is not quite clear. Presumably the eagle would be sitting with its breast to the wind.
[485] From behind.
[486] The distance is probably exaggerated.
[487] Pidar-sag, a common term of abuse: used in much the same way that b——y is by Thomas Atkins.
[488] T̤uʿma-zada mī-shavad: does this simply mean indigestion or does it mean that the hawk will cast her gorge?