In Eastern Turkestan, And Among The
Kirghiz To This Day, Eagles Termed Burgut (Now Well Known To Be The
Golden Eagle) Are Tamed And Trained To Fly At Wolves, Foxes, Deer, Wild
Goats, Etc.
A Kirghiz will give a good horse for an eagle in which he
recognises capacity for training.
Mr. Atkinson gives vivid descriptions
and illustrations of this eagle (which he calls "Bear coote"), attacking
both deer and wolves. He represents the bird as striking one claw into the
neck, and the other into the back of its large prey, and then tearing out
the liver with its beak. In justice both to Marco Polo and to Mr.
Atkinson, I have pleasure in adding a vivid account of the exploits of
this bird, as witnessed by one of my kind correspondents, the
Governor-General's late envoy to Kashgar. And I trust Sir Douglas Forsyth
will pardon my quoting his own letter just as it stands[1]: - "Now for a
story of the Burgoot - Atkinson's 'Bearcoote.' I think I told you it was
the Golden Eagle and supposed to attack wolves and even bears. One day we
came across a wild hog of enormous size, far bigger than any that gave
sport to the Tent Club in Bengal. The Burgoot was immediately let loose,
and went straight at the hog, which it kicked, and flapped with its wings,
and utterly flabbergasted, whilst our Kashgaree companions attacked him
with sticks and brought him to the ground. As Friar Odoric would say, I, T.
D. F., have seen this with mine own eyes." - Shaw describes the rough
treatment with which the Burgut is tamed. Baber, when in the Bajaur Hills,
notices in his memoirs: "This day Burgut took a deer." (Timkowski, I.
414; Levchine, p. 77; Pallas, Voyages, I. 421; J. R. A. S. VII.
305; Atkinson's Siberia, 493; and Amoor, 146-147; Shaw, p. 157;
Baber, p. 249.)
[The Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetus) is called at Peking Hoy tiao
(black eagle). (David et Oustalet, Oiseaux de la Chine, p. 8.) - H. C.]
[1] Dated Yangi Hissar, 10th April, 1874.
CHAPTER XIX.
CONCERNING THE TWO BROTHERS WHO HAVE CHARGE OF THE KAAN'S HOUNDS.
The Emperor hath two Barons who are own brothers, one called Baian and the
other Mingan; and these two are styled Chinuchi (or Cunichi), which is
as much as to say, "The Keepers of the Mastiff Dogs."[NOTE 1] Each of
these brothers hath 10,000 men under his orders; each body of 10,000 being
dressed alike, the one in red and the other in blue, and whenever they
accompany the Lord to the chase, they wear this livery, in order to be
recognized. Out of each body of 10,000 there are 2000 men who are each in
charge of one or more great mastiffs, so that the whole number of these is
very large. And when the Prince goes a-hunting, one of those Barons, with
his 10,000 men and something like 5000 dogs, goes towards the right,
whilst the other goes towards the left with his party in like manner. They
move along, all abreast of one another, so that the whole line extends
over a full day's journey, and no animal can escape them. Truly it is a
glorious sight to see the working of the dogs and the huntsmen on such an
occasion! And as the Lord rides a-fowling across the plains, you will see
these big hounds coming tearing up, one pack after a bear, another pack
after a stag, or some other beast, as it may hap, and running the game
down now on this side and now on that, so that it is really a most
delightful sport and spectacle.
[The Two Brothers I have mentioned are bound by the tenure of their office
to supply the Kaan's Court from October to the end of March with 1000 head
of game daily, whether of beasts or birds, and not counting quails; and
also with fish to the best of their ability, allowing fish enough for
three persons to reckon as equal to one head of game.]
Now I have told you of the Masters of the Hounds and all about them, and
next will I tell you how the Lord goes off on an expedition for the space
of three months.
NOTE 1. - Though this particular Bayan and Mingan are not likely to be
mentioned in history, the names are both good Mongol names; Bayan that
of a great soldier under Kublai, of whom we shall hear afterwards; and
Mingan that of one of Chinghiz's generals.
The title of "Master of the Mastiffs" belonged to a high Court official at
Constantinople in former days, Samsunji Bashi, and I have no doubt Marco
has given the exact interpretation of the title of the two Barons: though
it is difficult to trace its elements. It is read variously Cunici (i.e.
Kunichi) and Cinuci (i.e. Chinuchi). It is evidently a word of
analogous structure to Kushchi, the Master of the Falcons; Parschi,
the Master of the Leopards. Professor Schiefner thinks it is probably
corrupted from Noghaichi, which appears in Kovalevski's Mongol Dict. as
"chaesseur qui a soins des chiens courants." This word occurs, he points
out, in Sanang Setzen, where Schmidt translates it Aufseher ueber Hunde.
(See S. S. p. 39.)
The metathesis of Noghai-chi into Kuni-chi is the only drawback to
this otherwise apt solution. We generally shall find Polo's Oriental words
much more accurately expressed than this would imply - as in the next
chapter. I have hazarded a suggestion of (Or. Turkish) Chong-lt-chi,
"Keeper of the Big Dogs," which Professor Vambery thinks possible. (See
"chong, big, strong," in his Tschagataische Sprachstudien, p. 282, and
note in Lord Strangford's Selected Writings, II. 169.) In East Turkestan
they call the Chinese Chong Kafir, "The Big Heathen." This would exactly
correspond to the rendering of Pipino's Latin translation, "hoc est canum
magnorum Praefecti." Chinuchi again would be (in Mongol)
"Wolf-keepers." It is at least possible that the great dogs which Polo
terms mastiffs may have been known by such a name.
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