476 



THE NEW BOOK OF THE DOG. 



march he is often placed on camel-back, 

 and at times when hunting, till the game 

 is approached, is carried on horseback in 

 front of his master. A French writer in 

 describing the Bedawin says : " If I want 



M 



SLUGHI LUMAN (AGE 11* YEARS) 



PROPERTY OF THE HON. FLORENCE AMHERST. 



to point out how truly the Arabs are gentle- 

 men I should give one simple proof, namely, 

 the affection they show to their Greyhounds." 

 The Arabs themselves say : " Ah, he is a 

 gentleman indeed, he has been brought up 

 with the Slughi." In 1216 a Persian 

 historian quotes the story of a great prince, 

 who contrasts the hard life he has out hunt- 

 ing all day with the merry life of his much 

 spoilt and pampered Tazi. 



Not only to those who seek the distrac- 

 tions of sport is the Gazelle Hound of value. 

 In the far off deserts he has a more important 

 part to play. It is to the " prince of swift- 

 ness " that the Arab must often trust for 

 his supply of food. 



The Slughi is used in the present day, 

 as in ancient times, for hunting gazelle, 

 antelope, hares, foxes, and other desert 

 animals. It is employed for hawking, 

 coursing, and all such sports. He can pull 

 down the gazelle, hares, and foxes alone, 

 and although, as a rule, hawks are used to 

 assist, the test of a good dog is that he can 

 bring down a gazelle by himself. He is 



described as having " a most perfect eye," 

 and is also said to have " a wonderful nose 

 for game." 



There are various methods of using the 

 Gazelle Hound for sport. " The hawk, when 

 free, rises in the air, and, perceiving its prey, 

 swoops down upon it, and attacks the head 

 of the gazelle and confuses it till it falls an 

 easy prey to the Greyhounds in pursuit." 

 Where the bushes are high the dogs are 

 said to pursue the hare by following the 

 flight of the hawk. 



On the desert round Cairo a Khedivial 

 hawking party is described. The princes 

 ride out, " with a gay retinue, with hawk 

 on wrist, and Sluhgi in the leash." When 

 the gazelle is sighted, " with a peculiar 

 shrill cry " the prince lets his hawk fly, the 

 Greyhounds following with their tails waving 

 like banners, which are said to " steer them 

 over the breezy plain." A favourite sport 

 in Persia is to gallop on horseback and shoot 

 mouflon from the saddle, driven from the 

 mountains and pursued by Tazi on the plain. 



A Sheikh of the Anezeh (in the Hauran), 

 giving his opinion of hawking, adds : " We 

 prefer to run down the gazelle with our 

 Greyhounds . . .for therein is more 

 sport." A great hunter in the Sinai 

 Peninsula thus speaks of hunting gazelle 

 without a hawk : " The sportsman keeps 

 hold of his dog up wind, till within 

 about 500 yards of them, and then sends 

 him away, and he easily catches the prey. 

 They run over the desert hare almost in a 

 moment." Dogs are sometimes placed along 

 the track where the game is likely to pass. 

 Throwing-sticks are also used for catching 

 hares, assisted by the Slughi. Hunting 

 with the Khan of Kelat they are described 

 as " galloping over country that was boulder 

 strewn," and have been seen in Arabia to 

 course hares " over ground that would have 

 broken every bone in an English Greyhound, 

 without hurting themselves." They can 

 also jump a very great height. Coursing 

 matches are known in the East. The speed 

 Gazelle Hounds are credited with is 20 to 30 

 metres (about 21 to 32 yards) per second in 

 spite of the sand in which their paws dive 

 heavily. Added to the above qualities they 



