Falconry in the East. 3571 



pellet-bow merits a short description : — • it would be a prodigious 

 acquisition in Europe to naughty little boys who delight in breaking 

 their neighbours' windows. It is made of a slip of bamboo, bent in 

 the shape of our ancient weapon ; as the old proverb advises, it has 

 two strings stretched parallel to each other from horn to horn. About 

 the centre a bit of canvas or coarse cloth, an inch or an inch and a 

 half in length, is sewn tightly to the two cords, and against it the pel- 

 let, a lump of hard clay, about the size of a ' taw,' is firmly held by 

 the thumb and forefinger which draw the bow. By dint of practice 

 the natives of India can use this instrument upon small birds with 

 fatal effect ; the range is from sixty to eighty yards. To a tyro the 

 only incovenience of it is the occasional smashing of the pellet upon 

 the thumb-knuckle of the left hand, an event quite the reverse of 

 agreeable, and which invariably brings on a repetition of itself, in con- 

 sequence of tyro's nervous anxiety to avoid it. 



"The sight of these preparations for destruction in the servants' 

 hands, elicited one long, loud caw from every crow that happened to 

 be looking that way. Instantly those that were on the wing began skel- 

 tering in headlong flight through the foliage of the trees towards some 

 safer roosting-place, and the few that were perched, sprang up flap- 

 ping and shrieking, and following with all speed the example of their 

 fellows. Even the chicken was forgotten in the hurry of the moment. 



" t Let the bone of contention lie under the tree, and if we don't 

 notice them some will be back shortly,' said the ameer. 'Take Khai- 

 ru into the tent and hide the bows.' 



" The veteran falconer was right. About ten minutes afterwards an 

 old crow was descried sneaking behind the plantation, and silently ta- 

 king up a position in the thickest cover he could find. Then came a 

 second and a third ; at last we were aware of the presence of a dozen. 



" ' Bring the bird,' whispered the ameer. 



" The bazdar * came softly out of the tent, carrying on his fist 

 Khairu, the laghar,f who was sitting erect, as if mentally prepared for 

 anything, with head pressed forward, and pounces { firmly grasping 

 the dasti.§ Her hood was then removed, her leash was slowly slipped, 

 and as one crow bolder than the others lit furtively upon the ground, 



* " Falconer. f " Laghar, a large kind of hobby hawk. 



% " The ' pounces,' in the language of falconry, are the bird's talons. 



§ " Oriental falconers, instead of a glove, use a small square napkin of wadded 

 cotton, secured to the wrist by a noose, and twisted round the hand, so that the bird 

 sitting on the forefinger may clench it with her talons." 



