5 HISTORICAL. 



the Emperor Honorius (384-423 a.d.) amused himself with 

 the rearing of " poultry ; " and that Charlemagne (742-814) 

 was careful to encourage this branch of rural economy, so 

 ably carried out by the French to the present time. He 

 says : " I touch with reverence the laws of Charlemagne, so 

 highly applauded by a respectable judge. They compose not 

 a system, but a series of occasional and minute edicts, for 

 the correction of abuses, the reformation of manners, the 

 economy of his farms, the care of his poultry, and even the 

 sale of his eggs." Vataces John Ducas, Emperor of Constan- 

 tinople, who reigned about the year 1250, presented a crown of 

 diamonds and pearls to his empress, which, he informed her 

 with a smile, had been purchased with the money derived 

 from the sale of the eggs of his innumerable poultry. Per- 

 haps something of more interest to the pigeon fancier than 

 the above might be discovered from a perusal of the edicts 

 of Charlemagne. Gibbon relates that carrier pigeons were 

 employed during the Crusades, at the sieges of Acre in Syria 

 and Mansourah in Egypt. 



Early Pigeon Flying. 



The sport of pigeon flying is known to have been practised 

 in Modena for a long time, as historical evidence carries it 

 back to the year 1327. 



The Emperor Akbar (1542-1605) appears to have been a 

 keen pigeon fancier. His prime minister, Abul Fazl, has 

 made this apparent in the " Ain-i-Akbari " (Institutes of Akbar), 

 where he devotes some pages to a description of the sport of 

 pigeon flying as practised by his Majesty, and which is still 

 in vogue in India, Persia, Turkey, and many parts of 

 Europe. 



The Nawab, M. Alaooddeen, of Loharoo, has written for me, 

 at the request of my relative. Sir Charles U. Aitchison, Lieu- 

 tenant-Governor of the Punjab, an essay comparing the spoi-t, 

 as presently carried on in Delhi, with Abul Fazl's account, 



