PAtCONRV.

847

in their opinion. It appears, that GiraMus admitted theyknew something of falconry ; * * 4 although a modern writer 5says, he believes they knew nothing of hawking, which hedefines to be chasiug game with birds of prey, as practisedin modern times; which, be remarks, serves more for theamusement of trifling princes than for any useful purpose.He also adds, " That they had begun to employ the rapa-city of some of the winged tribe in hunting and fowling, inhis opinion, cannot be denied.” We shall see by an an-nexed note, that falconry has been practised from the earliesttimes in Siberian Tartary, and India .

So early as the time ol Ctesias, (contemporary with Alex-ander the Great, ) we understand, hares and foxes werehunted in India , by means of rapacious birds . 6 The accountgiven by Aristotle , appears to confirm the practice of fal-conry or hawking among the Thracians, where, he says,“ In Thrace the men go out to catch birds with hawks. Themen beat the reeds and bushes which grow' in marshyplaces, in order to raise the small birds, which the hawkspursue and drive to the ground, where the fowler kills themwith poles .” 7

It has been well remarked, that one part of history assistsin clearing up the doubts on other parts. Surely never wasthis observation better verified than it appears in the presentinstance: for from the previous notes, it seems, the learnedEuropeans, only familiar with Grecian and Latin histories,knew nothing of what had been transacted in the north ofAsia; and we observe in Von Strahlenberg , that falconryhas been an ancient custom in Tartary ; which also assistsin confirming M. Badly's conception; see his HistoireiFAstron. that the origin of most arts, sciences, customs,&c.originated in the. north of Asia; which conception is alsoconfirmed in an expression of a reverend English historian ofthe stellary science, Mr. Costard, who says it was reported bythe Jesuits that the Grand Lama possessed some most ancient

* Lilli Greg. Gyraldi Dialogismus vi. iu his works priuted at Leyden, t696, fol.

tom ii. p. 870. These duilogismi may he also found in Gruter’s Thesaurus criticus,

vol. ii. p. 397.

5 Professor Beckmann, vol. i p. S20.

® ft K<ti aX«9rc*4{ dflfiutva’iV, o u t#ic aWet xepa£j xa< urnri xa<

Kipcrtettf k*i Ctesiae Indica; Ilerodot- Ilistor. Franco/'. 1608, iol. p. 660.

In India also the ankdhpe, which is too swift for the fleetest dogs, is usually stop-ped iu its course by a lalcon.— Nicholson's Encifclop.

7 Iu that part of Thrace , called formerly Cedropolis, the men go out into themarshes in quest of birds, accompanied by falcons. The men beat the trees sadbushes with poles, and put the birds to flight; the hawks fly after them, by whichmeans they are so frightened that they fall to the ground, where the men strikethem with their poles, and kill them. Btstor. Animal, lib. ix. c. 6, edit. Scaligeri .