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73. Indian Hawking-glovcs* 



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By LiEUT.-CoLONEL D. C. Phillott, Secretary, Boanl of 



ExaTYiinerSy Galcutta. 



In the East, where falconers are usually mounted, the hawk 

 is carried on the right-hand and not, as in the West, on the 

 hridle-hand. In the East, too, there is usually an attendant to 

 each hawk ; consequently each leash has its glove attached to it. 

 In Indian gloves, the third and little fingers are usually bare. 

 In one of the Tardiyat or poems on sport, of AhU-Nic^d.-^', the famous 

 poet-jester of the Court of Knrun^ 'r-Bashid, occur the lines : — 



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I clothed my hand in a glove, well-lined with thick squir- 

 rel-fur, soft and comfortable 



That guards the fingers from the numbing cold, and from 



the clasp of the goshawk leaving the fist. 



It clothes the whole hand leaving only the little-finger 

 free * * * 



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For peregrines and shahins, however, the glove has usually 

 four fingers. Good, plain gloves can be bought at Amritsar and 

 Kapurthala for as little as six annas ; but, for a European, unless 

 he has an exceptionally smnll hand, those gloves are too narrow. 

 Gold -embroidered hawking-gloves are made in many parts of 

 India, but these are only worn on full-dress occasions, or attached 

 to the leash of a hawk sent as a present to a big person. 



Figs. I, II and III are the pattern of a rigfit-hand glove for 

 a native hand, and, in each case, the smooth side of the leather 

 is supposed to be uppermost. For a left-hand glove, the reverse 

 will be the caf^e. For a large hand, the p: 

 tenth oF an inch larger all round. The squares in the figures are 



supposed to have sides of one inch. 



The glove should be mnde of nari or goat-skin, and that por- 

 tion of the skin that was the back of the animal should alone be 

 used. After the patterns have been cut out, the dotted lines ah 

 Fig. I, cd Fig. II, and on Fig. Ill should be cut through. 



First sew in Fig. TI, between the first and second fingers of 

 Fig. I, at the back. The slit portions of Fig. II are let into 

 the sides of the two fingers Fig. T, the bottom or unslit portion 

 of Fig. II being let into the hand of Fig. I. 



Next sew tocjether EF, Fig. I, and mL, Fig. III. Now join B 

 and A, Fig. I, and sew BE to AQ, Fig. I (i.e., up to Q), and also 

 Lk, Fig. Ill, along QC, Fig. I. The line U, Fig. Ill, will join 

 the line QC, Figr. I and the two will be sewn together. 



