A Morning with the Mehtar's Falcons 141 



who was passionately fond of hawking, had one 

 of them caught and trained, report says with 

 success ; but their size and weight, not to 

 mention their voracious appetite, preclude their 

 being brought into general use. Nizam-ul-Mulk, 

 some of my readers may remember, was the 

 Mehtar whose murder, which took place when he 

 was out hawking, started the conflagration which 

 ended in the Chitral campaign. He was shot 

 in the back while watching the flight of one of 

 his falcons. The present Mehtar, remembering 

 his brother's fate, at the time I am writing of, 

 always had his back guarded by men he could 

 trust wherever he went. 



On our road home we came to a flat sandy 

 plain over which the river spread out below us 

 into several glittering streams, and where the 

 Mehtar hoped to be able to exhibit the prowess 

 of his Shunkhar on a crow. Luck was with us, 

 for some black dots on the water's edge were 

 seen moving about. After the head falconer had 

 assured himself they were not choughs, which 

 decline to play the game, he took his Shunkhar 

 up the hill above us, and sent a man to put the 

 birds up in our direction. As soon as they were 

 on the wing the falcon was thrown off, and 

 made a terrific stoop on one of the crows ; but 

 when his enemy was seemingly within a foot of 



