474 



^'ti 





-=^1*-" iAitiiii 



GROUP OF NORTH AFRICAN GAZELLE HOUNDS. 

 THE PROPERTY OF HERR MICHEL LA FONTIJN. 



CHAPTER LVI. 

 ORIENTAL GREYHOUNDS. 



BY THE HON. FLORENCE AMHERST. 



• L' Orient est le berccaii de la Civilisation parce que I'Orient est la 

 patrie dti Chicn." — Toi'SSENEL. 



" No bolder horseman in the vouthful hand 

 E'er rode in gay chase of the shy gazelle." 



Edwin Arnold. 



I. The Slughi, Tazi, or Gazelle Hound.* 



— The original home of the Slughi is 

 difficult to determine. It is shown by 

 the monuments of ancient Egypt that 

 these Gazelle Hounds were kept in that 

 country for hunting purposes, but they 

 seem to have been of foreign importation 

 — both from Asia and Africa. 



In Persia the Slughi is known as the 

 " Sag-i Tazi " (Arabian Hound), or merely 

 as the "Tazi," which literally means 

 " Arabian" (a term also applied there to 

 Arab horses), denoting an Arab origin. 

 According to tradition at the present day on 

 the Persian Gulf, it is said that these dogs 



"Xtime in Aiabu, 



Masc. : Slughi (colloquial) ; Saluki (classical). 



Fem. : Slughiya (colloquial) ; Silaga (classical). 



Plural and genus, Salag. 



came originally from Syria with the horse. 

 Arabic writers say that the Slughi was only 

 known to the Pharaohs, thanks to the Arabs 

 and to their constant caravans that plied 

 from immemorial times between the two 

 countries. 



The name Slughi, which means a Grey- 

 hound, bears with it a history recalling the 

 vanished glories of Selukia and the Greek 

 Empire in Syria, and Saluk, in the Yemen, 

 that rich land of mystery and romance. 

 The word originated from these places, once 

 famous for their " Saluki " armour, and 

 " Saluki " hounds. Other districts bearing 

 similar names are quoted as being connected 

 with these hounds. 



Although now, as formerly, valued by the 

 amateurs of the chase, it is in the lone 

 deserts, among the Bedawin tribes, that the 

 real home of the Slughi is to be found. 

 There, in spite of the changes in the world 



