HAWKING-BIRDS. 
birds which harboured there ; and, as they flew away, hawks 
were let loose in pursuit, and when the game fell to the 
ground, either through fright or struck by the hawks, the 
men ran up and secured them. In China it is a favourite 
sport with some of the mandarins to hawk for butterflies and 
other large insects, with birds trained for that particular 
pastime. In India, the goshawk and two other species are 
taught to keep hovering over the hunters’ heads, and when 
deer and other game start up, they dart down, and fix their 
claws upon its head, and thus bewilder it till it is secured. 
# * # # A certain sultan, called Bajazet Ilderim, main- 
tained a corps of seven thousand falconers.” 
Denmark was, in ancient times, a famous place for hawks 
and hawking. According to ancient Danish law, it was death 
to hurt or kill a hawk. Iceland was the depot for the hawks 
used in Denmark, and, according to a writer on Icelandic 
history (1758), the king of Denmark sent every year a 
falconer with two attendants. On landing, they repair to 
a house, called the king’s falcon-house, for the purpose of 
receiving birds caught by persons who are licensed and are 
native Icelanders. About midsummer these catchers bring 
their birds on horseback, holding a pole, with another fixed 
across it, on which ten or twelve sit, all capped, that is, with, 
their heads covered with caps or hoods. This pole is held in 
the hand and rested on the stirrup. The falconer examines 
them very carefully, and, returning those that are of an inferior 
sort, sends off the best to Denmark. During the voyage they 
are arranged between the decks, tied to poles two rows of a 
side ; these poles are covered with coarse cloth over a stuffing 
of straw, and lines are strung from one side to the other,, 
pretty close, that they may have something to catch hold of 
in case of the ship’s rolling. The catchers receive a written 
testimony of their respective good qualities, by virtue of which 
they are paid by the king’s receiver-general about three pounds 
for the best, which are white.” 
The Arabians used to employ the falcon to hunt the goat, 
and a very good description of how this sport was managed is 
given by a very quaint and interesting old writer, Hasselquist. 
He says, “ I had an excellent opportunity of seeing this sport, 
near Hazareth, in Galilee. An Arab mounted a swift courser, 
held the falcon in his hand, as huntsmen commonly do ; when 
he espied the rock-goat on the top of a mountain, he let loose 
the falcon, which flew in a direct line like an arrow, and 
223 
