TRAINING PIGEONS IN THE EAST. 171 



had one wing of a Pigeon blackened, when the erroneousness of 

 that opinion became evident. 



Some Pigeons get confused during the bazi and charkh, and 

 come stupified to the ground. This is called gululah, and is 

 disliked. Sometimes Pigeons hurt themselves and fall down ; but 

 often they get all right again when they come near the ground, and, 

 taking courage and collecting their strength, they fly up again. 

 A Pigeon of the khagah pigeon-cots will perform fifteen charkha 

 and seventy basis — a feat which will certainly astonish the 

 spectators. In former times they let eleven or twenty-one 

 Pigeons fly at a time, but now-a-days they let off as many as a 

 hundred and one. From the attention which His Majesty has 

 bestowed upon Pigeons, they are now so carefully trained as to 

 be let fly at night, even to great heights. 



At the time of the departure and the breaking-up of the 

 camp, the Pigeons will follow, the cots being carried by bearers 

 (kuliar). Sometimes they will alight and take rest for awhile, 

 and then rise again. 



It would be difficult to count the Pigeons at Court, but there 

 are more than twenty thousand. Five hundred of them are 

 kharah ; they have a great reputation, and remarkable stories 

 are told of their skill. 



Pigeon-trainers of former times, in order to determine the 

 value of a Pigeon, used to twist the foot or looked to the slit of 

 the eyes, or the openings on the top of the bill ; but they failed 

 to discover more signs of the value of the breed. His Majesty 

 has discovered many more ; and fixing the value of a Pigeon— in 

 former times a matter of great difficulty — has now become very 

 easy. First. — His Majesty subdivided the three signs of former 

 trainers as follows : the two eyes and their upper and lower signs ; 

 the eight claws ; the two sides of the beak, above and below. The 

 mutual comparison of these signs has lead to many additional 

 means of fixing the value of a Pigeon. Secondly.— His Majesty 

 looks to the variety and the colour of the annular protuberances 

 on the feet of Pigeons. A book has been made in which the 

 systematic order of these signs has been laid down. According 

 to them His Majesty distinguishes ten classes, for each of which 

 sepai-ate aviaries have been constructed. The price of Pigeons in 

 the first house has not been limited. Many a poor man, anxious 

 to make his way, has found in the training of superior Pigeons 



