liUSSIAN. 185 



been associated with a love of field sports, none gave 

 greater support and encouragement to the practice of Falconry 

 than the Tsar Alexis Michaelovitch. At the village of Kolo- 

 mensk, about seven versts from Moscow, he maintained a 

 considerable hawking stud, and employed a very large number of 

 falconers to look after the birds, which were captured by pro- 

 fessional hawk-catchers in all parts of the Russian empire. So 

 great was his enthusiasm for this sport that in 1668 he caused 

 special laws to be drawn up for the purpose of regulating its 

 practice, supplemented by notes under his own hand, the 

 observance of which was enforced under severe penalties. 



The title of this code is given above. The original is pre- 

 served at Moscow, and will be found printed in the " Old Russian 

 Library " (part iii. p. 430), and in the edition of the letters of the 

 Tsar Alexis Michaelovitch, with remarks by P. Bes9onoff, and 

 explanatory notes by S. T. Akganoff, according to Haller 

 (No. 336) not always accurate. 



It is referred to by Korsakoff (No. 335), and an extract is 

 given by Adelung in his account of the travels of the Austrian 

 ambassador, Baron Meyerberg, in 1662 — Augustin Freiherr von 

 Meyerberg und seine Reise nach Russland, St. Petersburg, 1827, 

 pp. 211-229 and notes, pp. 298-305. 



According to Hammer Purgstall (No. 112), p. xxii., this code 

 was probably derived from Mongol sources, but a perusal of the 

 outlines given by Adelung and Haller has not led us to that 

 conclusion. 



After a somewhat lengthy justification of such an exceptional 

 statute for an apparently trifling object, there follows a disquisi- 

 tion in praise of fowling in general, and hawking in particular. 

 The practice of Falconry is then treated in several chapters 

 with extraordinary diffuseness and in considerable detail : the 

 rank, duties, and costume of the different grades of falconers 

 are carefully indicated, and even the rank and trappings of the 

 favourite falcons minutely described ; to which are added the 

 names of no less than ninety-two of these valuable birds. 

 Their appellations are derived, sometimes from their colour, 

 sometimes from individual peculiarities or other circumstances. 

 Amongst them we find Gavianon, the noisy one, from gam, a 

 noise ; Maletz, the knave ; Belai, the white one ; Smelai, the 

 bold one ; Orel, the eagle ; &c. The seventh clause indicates 



