METHOD OF CAPTURING WILD-GEESE IN INDIA, 



391 



quietly seizes the birds one at a time by their legs, draws them under 

 water, and dislocates their necks : he then tucks their heads beneath 

 his girdle, from which they remain securely suspended ; until he has 

 captured two or three, or as many as are within reach, when he walks 

 or swims towards the shore, and emerges from the water with his 

 captives. The cut at the head of this page will give the reader 

 a notion of this singular mode of fowling. 



In a work of extreme curiosity,* which I discovered in my re- 

 searches in the library of the British Museum, and have already 

 referred to more than once in these pages, this remarkable method 

 of capturing wild-geese is very clearly depicted in a beautifully exe- 

 cuted engraving : beneath which is the following inscription : 



" Anserum agreste genus stagnante in aqua capit Indus. 

 Ipse cucurbita habet tectum caput illecebris 

 Allicit : esuriens anser visse involat escae. 

 Indus pascentem facile capit arte volucrem." 



None of the aquatic fowlers, emerging from the water, are repre- 

 sented by the original engraving as having captured more than three 



* Venationes Ferarum, Avium, &c., depictse a Joanne Stradano : editse a 

 Philippe Gallaeo : Carmine illustrate a C. Kiliano Dufflseo. No date. 



