218 



HUNTING ADVENTURER. 



PERSIAN ANTELOPE. 



een in any other country. This breed, which is c.-.lled Cherxk, 

 is not large, but of great beauty and symmetry. 



Another mode of running down the antelope is practised here, 

 and still more in the interior of Persia. Persons of the highes* 

 rank lead their own greyhounds in a long silken leash, which 

 passes through the collar, and is ready to slip the moment the 

 huntsman' chooses. The well-trained dog goes alongside the 

 horse, and keeps clear of him when at full speed, and in all kinds 

 of country. When a herd of antelopes is seen, a consultation is 

 held, and the most experienced determine the point towards which 

 they are to be driven The field (as an English sportsman would 

 term it) then disperse, and while some drive the herd in the de- 

 Bired direction, those with the dogs take their post on the same 

 line, at the distance of about a mile from each other ; one of the 

 worst dogs is then slipped at the herd, and from the moment he 

 singles out an antelope the whole body are in motion. The object 

 of the horsemen who have greyhounds is to intercept its course, 

 and to slip fresh "dogs, in succession, at the fatigued animal. In 

 rare instances the second dog kills. It is generally the third or 

 fourth ; ana even these, when the deer is strong, and the grouna 

 Catror<vble. often fail. This sport, which is very exhilarating, wat 



