PALSY, ETC.
_Akmaja_ is a disease akin to paralysis, palsy, and epilepsy,
but is yet none of these three. The hawk grows thin without any
apparent cause, and her tail and wings seem palsied. Sometimes this
distressing symptom will so overpower her that she will at one time
fall on her face, at another on her back, and be unable to sit on
the fist. Sometimes, too, she will cast her “gorge”.[725] As a rule
this disease, which generally occurs amongst short-winged hawks, is
fatal. The cause of it is stale meat[726] (mutton, she-goat, or hare,
two or three days old), given her by your ignorant falconer, who has
afterwards placed her in a damp room. _Treatment_: at once brand her
with a stick of log-wood, branding her four limbs with lines, and
branding also her oil-bottle, her forehead, and between her nostrils
from the direction of both eyes. Feed her on pigeons. Give her one
_nuk͟hūd_ of quinine:—
Quinine cures man in the West and the East;
’Tis also good for bird and beast.
Give her that amount of pigeon’s flesh that will be digested[727] by
two hours before sunset. In the afternoon kill another pigeon and chop
up one side of the breast very fine, and mix with it the yolk of an
egg, and give it to your hawk. _Item_: pound a little cinnamon[728]
and give it to her in a fold of meat and on the top of her meal.
_Item_: powder a little ginger very fine, and give it to her as a
first mouthful in a fold of meat. Then let her tear at the breast of
a pigeon, applying to it, as she does so, a little wine. You must be
specially careful about feeding her twice a day and giving her just
the right quantity in the morning, so that she may be empty and keen
by the time of the afternoon meal. _Item_: give her in the morning
one _mis̤qāl_ of castor-oil.[729] Feed her on minced meat mixed with
the yolk of an egg. If you observe any improvement, then two days
later give her a second dose of castor-oil. _Item_: give her, before
her food, one white peppercorn; and, if you observe any improvement,
gradually increase the peppercorns till you can give as many as five.
If she be not cured by this, repeat, “Verily to God do we belong:
Verily to Him do we return,”[730] and set about procuring another hawk.
Who is there that can Fate’s decree contest;
Who can complain against Time’s ceaseless flight?
God in his wisdom does what He thinks best;
Will men presume to guide the Lord aright?
FOOTNOTES:
[725] “Gorge,” the crop and also the contents of the crop.
[726] _Gūsht-i du-si-rūza-mānda_, “meat two or three days old.”
_Tainted_ meat kills all trained hawks, even _lagaṛs_ and sakers.
[727] _Ṣarf kardan._
[728] Such spices do indeed whet a hawk’s appetite, but their
continued use is very injurious.
[729] _Rūg͟han-i karchak_, _lit._ “oil of cotton seed,” so-called from
an idea that castor-oil was obtained from this seed.
[730] A formula repeated by Muslims in times of distress, especially
at death.