64 RESIDENCE OF THE MISSION AT BUSHIRE. 
often admired the courage and dexterity with which the Persian 
Jelowdars or grooms throw themselves into the thickest engagement of 
angry horses; and, in defiance of the kicks and bites around them, con¬ 
trive to separate them. 
The Resident's stud consists of about twenty horses, mules, and 
asses; eight of the horses belong to the East India Company, and are 
principally employed in carrying choppers or couriers to Shiraz. These 
are obliged however to be renewed very frequently, because one such 
journey generally destroys the animal that performs it; so difficult are 
the passes of the mountains, and so unmerciful are the riders. 
They have in Persia a very large and ferocious dog, called the kofla 
dog, from his being the watchful and faithful companion of the kofla or 
caravan. Each muleteer has his dog, and so correct is the animals 
knowledge of the mules that belong to his master, that he will discover 
those that have strayed, and will bring them back to their associates; 
and on the other hand, when at night the whole caravan stops, and the 
mules are parcelled in square lots, the guardian dog will permit no 
strange mule to join the party under his charge, or to encroach upon 
their ground. His strength and his ferocity are equal to his intelli¬ 
gence and watchfulness. 
We chased one day a large white fox. They prey about the open 
country round Busfitre in great numbers, for the natives do not destroy 
them with all the zeal of Englishmen. The wild animals of the Dash- 
tistan are the wolf, the hyaena, the fox, the porcupine, the mangousti , 
the antelope, the wild boar, the jerboa , and sometimes the wild goat. 
The mountains of the Dashtistan have also the lion, and he has been 
known to descend into the plain. On the 12th December, Captain 
Davis, of the Sapphire , shot two cormorants out of a flock that were 
squatted on a tree. Partridges also have been seen to settle in the same 
situation. The hawks, which are used in hunting, are the cherk , the 
balban , and the shahein. 
We get off on the 29th of November, before sun-rise, to hunt with 
