declared, “None loosed me, by leave of Allah Almighty, save this monkey
and I buy my release of him at a thousand dinars;” whereupon the
merchants rejoined, “And we likewise, each and every, will pay him a
thousand dinars if he release us.” With this the ape arose and went up
to them and loosed their bonds one by one, till he had freed them all,
when they made for the vessel and boarding her, found all safe and
nothing missing from her. So they cast off and set sail; and presently
Abu al-Muzaffar said to them, “O merchants, fulfil your promise to the
monkey.” “We hear and we obey,” answered they; and each one paid him one
thousand dinars, whilst Abu al-Muzaffar brought out to him the like sum
of his own monies, so that a great heap of coin was collected for the
ape. Then they fared on till they reached Bassorah-city where their
friends came out to meet them; and when they had landed the Shaykh said,
“Where is Abu Mohammed Lazybones?” The news reached my mother, who came
to me as I lay asleep and said to me, “O my son, verily the Shaykh Abu
al-Muzaffar hath come back and is now in the city; so rise and go thou
to him and salute him and enquire what he hath brought thee; it may be
Allah Almighty have opened to thee the door of fortune with somewhat.”
Quoth I, “Lift me from the ground and prop me up, whilst I go forth and
walk to the river-bank.” After which I went out and walked on, stumbling
over my skirts, till I met the Shaykh, who exclaimed at sight of me,
“Welcome to him whose money hath been the means of my release and that
of these merchants, by the will of Almighty Allah.” Then he continued,
“Take this monkey I bought for thee and carry him home and wait till I
come to thee.” So I took the ape and went off, saying in my mind, “By
Allah, this is naught but rare merchandise!” and led it home, where I
said to my mother, “Whenever I lie down to sleep, thou biddest me rise
and trade; see now this merchandise with thine own eyes.” Then I sat me
down and as I sat, up came the slaves of Abu al-Muzaffar and said to me,
“Art thou Abu Mohammed Lazybones?” “Yes” answered I; and behold, Abu
al-Muzaffar appeared behind them. So I rose up to him and kissed his
hands: and he said, “Come with me to my home.” “Hearkening and
obedience,” answered I and accompanied him to his house, where he bade
his servants bring me what money the monkey had earned for me. So they
brought it and he said to me, “O my son, Allah hath blessed thee with
this wealth, by way of profit on thy five dirhams.” Then the slaves set
down the treasure in chests, which they had carried on their heads, and
Abu al-Muzaffar gave me the keys saying, “Go before the slaves to thy
house; for in sooth all this wealth is thine.” So I returned to my
mother, who rejoiced in this and said to me, “O my son, Allah hath
blessed thee with all these riches; so put off thy laziness and go down
to the bazar and sell and buy.” At once I shook off my dull sloth, and
opened a shop in the bazar, where the ape used to sit on the same divan
with me, eating with me when I ate and drinking when I drank. But, every
day, he was absent from dawn till noon, when he came back bringing with
him a purse of a thousand dinars, which he laid by my side, and sat
down; and he ceased not so doing for a great while, till I amassed much
wealth, wherewith, O Commander of the Faithful, I purchased houses and
lands, and I planted gardens and I bought me white slaves and negroes
and concubines. Now it came to pass one day, as I sat in my shop, with
the ape sitting at my side on the same carpet, behold, he began to turn
right and left, and I said to myself, “What aileth the beast?” Then
Allah made the ape speak with a ready tongue, and he said to me, “O Abu
Mohammed!” Now when I heard him speak, I was sore afraid; but he said to
me, “Fear not; I will tell thee my case. I am a Marid of the Jinn and
came to thee because of thy poor estate; but to-day thou knowest not the
amount of thy wealth; and now I have need of thee and if thou do my
will, it shall be well for thee.” I asked, “What is it?” and he
answered, “I have a mind to marry thee to a girl like the full moon.”
Quoth I, “How so?”; and quoth he, “To-morrow don thou thy richest dress
and mount thy mule, with the saddle of gold, and ride to the Haymarket.
There enquire for the shop of the Sharif[234] and sit down beside him
and say to him:—I come to thee as a suitor craving thy daughter’s hand.
If he say to thee:—Thou hast neither cash nor rank nor family; pull out
a thousand dinars and give them to him, and if he ask more, give him
more and tempt him with money.” Whereto I replied, “To hear is to obey;
I will do thy bidding, Inshallah!” So on the next morning I donned my
richest clothes, mounted my she-mule with trappings of gold and rode to
the Haymarket where I asked for the Sharif’s shop; and finding him there
seated, alighted and saluted him and seated myself beside him——And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Three Hundred and Third Night,
She said, it hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abu Mohammed
Lazybones continued:—So I alighted and, saluting him seated myself
beside him and my Mamelukes and negro-slaves stood before me. Said the
Sharif, “Haply, thou hast some business with us which we may have
pleasure of transacting?” Replied I, “Yes, I have business with thee.”
Asked he, “And what is it?”; and I answered, “I come to thee as a suitor
for thy daughter’s hand.” So he said, “Thou hast neither cash nor rank
nor family;” whereupon I pulled him out a purse of a thousand dinars,
red gold, and said to him, “This is my rank[235] and my family”; and he
(whom Allah bless and keep!) hath said:—The best of ranks is wealth. And
how well quoth the poet:—
Whoso two dirhams hath, his lips have learnt ✿ Speech of all kinds with
eloquence bedight:
Draw near[236] his brethren and crave ear of him, ✿ And him thou seest
haught in pride-full height:
Were’t not for dirhams wherein glories he, ✿ Hadst found him ‘mid
mankind in sorry plight.
When richard errs in words they all reply, ✿ “Sooth thou hast spoken and
hast said aright!.”
When pauper speaketh truly all reply ✿ “Thou liest;” and they hold his
sayings light.[237]
“Verily dirhams in earth’s every stead ✿ Clothe men with rank and make
them fair to sight;
Gold is the very tongue of eloquence; ✿ Gold is the best of arms for
wight who’d fight!”
Now when the Sharif heard these my words and understood my verse, he
bowed his head awhile groundwards then raising it, said, “If it must be
so, I will have of thee other three thousand gold pieces.” “I hear and I
obey,” answered I, and sent one of my Mamelukes home for the money. As
soon as he came back with it, I handed it to the Sharif who, when he saw
it in his hands, rose and bidding his servants shut his shop, invited
his brother merchants of the bazar to the wedding; after which he
carried me to his house and wrote out my contract of marriage with his
daughter saying to me, “After ten days, I will bring thee to pay her the
first visit.” So I went home rejoicing and, shutting myself up with the
ape, told him what had passed; and he said “Thou hast done well.” Now
when the time appointed by the Sharif drew near, the ape said to me,
“There is a thing I would have thee do for me; and thou shalt have of me
(when it is done) whatso thou wilt.” I asked, “What is that?” and he
answered, “At the upper end of the chamber wherein thou shalt meet thy
bride, the Sharif’s daughter, stands a cabinet, on whose door is a
ring-padlock of copper and the keys under it. Take the keys and open the
cabinet in which thou shalt find a coffer of iron with four flags, which
are talismans, at its corners; and in its midst stands a brazen basin
full of money, wherein is tied a white cock with a cleft comb; while on
one side of the coffer are eleven serpents and on the other a knife.
Take the knife and slaughter the cock; cut away the flags and upset the
chest, then go back to the bride and do away her maidenhead. This is
what I have to ask of thee.” “Hearkening and obedience,” answered I, and
betook myself to the house of the Sharif. So as soon as I entered the
bride-chamber, I looked for the cabinet and found it even as the ape had
described it. Then I went in unto the bride and marvelled at her beauty
and loveliness and stature and symmetrical grace, for indeed they were
such as no tongue can set forth. I rejoiced in her with exceeding joy;
and in the middle of the night, when my bride slept, I rose and, taking
the keys, opened the cabinet. Then I seized the knife and slew the cock
and threw down the flags and upset the coffer, whereupon the girl awoke
and, seeing the closet open and the cock with cut throat, exclaimed,
“There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious,
the Great! The Marid hath got hold of me!” Hardly had she made an end of
speaking, when the Marid swooped down upon the house and, snatching up
the bride, flew away with her; whereupon there arose a mighty clamour
and behold, in came the Sharif, buffetting his face and crying, “O Abu
Mohammed, what is this deed thou hast done? Is it thus thou requitest
us? I made this talisman in the cabinet fearing for my daughter from
this accursed one who, for these six years, hath sought to steal away
the girl, but could not. But now there is no more abiding for thee with
us; so wend thy ways.” Thereupon I went forth and returned to my own
house, where I made search for the ape but could not find him nor any
trace of him; whereby I knew that it was he who was the Marid, and that
he had carried off my wife and had tricked me into destroying the
talisman and the cock, the two things which hindered him from taking
her, and I repented, rending my raiment and cuffing my face. And there
was no land but was straitened upon me; so I made for the desert
forthright and ceased not wandering on till night overtook me, for I
knew not whither I was going. And whilst I was deep in sad thought
behold, I met two serpents, one tawny and the other white, and they were
fighting to kill each other. So I took up a stone and with one cast slew
the tawny serpent, which was the aggressor; whereupon the white serpent
glided away and was absent for a while, but presently she returned
accompanied by ten other white serpents which glided up to the dead
serpent and tore her in pieces, so that only the head was left. Then
they went their ways and I fell prostrate for weariness on the ground
where I stood; but as I lay, pondering my case lo! I heard a Voice
though I saw no one and the Voice versified with these two couplets:—
Let Fate with slackened bridle fare her pace, ✿ Nor pass the night with
mind which cares an ace.
Between eye-closing and its opening, ✿ Allah can foulest change to
fairest case.
Now when I heard this, O Commander of the Faithful, great concern gat
hold of me and I was beyond measure troubled; and behold, I heard a
Voice from behind me extemporise these couplets:—
O Moslem! thou whose guide is Alcorán, ✿ Joy in what brought safe peace
to thee, O man.
Fear not what Satan haply whispered thee, ✿ And in us see a
Truth-believing clan.
Then said I, “I conjure thee, by the truth of Him thou worshippest, let
me know who thou art!” Thereupon the Invisible Speaker assumed the form
of a man and said, “Fear not; for the report of thy good deed hath
reached us, and we are a people of the true-believing Jinn. So, if thou
lack aught, let us know it, that we may have the pleasure of fulfilling
thy want.” Quoth I, “Indeed I am in sore need, for I am afflicted with a
grievous affliction and no one was ever afflicted as I am!” Quoth he,
“Perchance thou art Abu Mohammed Lazybones?” and I replied, “Yes.” He
rejoined, “I, O Abu Mohammed, am the brother of the white serpent, whose
foe thou slewest; we are four brothers by one father and mother, and we
are all indebted to thee for thy kindness. And know thou that he who
played this trick on thee in the likeness of an ape, is a Marid of the
Marids of the Jinn; and had he not used this artifice, he had never been
able to get the girl; for he hath loved her and had a mind to take her
this long while, but he was hindered of that talisman; and had it
remained as it was, he could never have found access to her. However,
fret not thyself for that; we will bring thee to her and kill the Marid;
for thy kindness is not lost upon us.” Then he cried out with a terrible
outcry——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.
Now when it was the Three Hundred and Fourth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Ifrit
continued, “Verily thy kindness is not lost upon us.” Then he cried out
with a terrible outcry in a horrible voice, and behold, there appeared a
troop of the Jinn, of whom he enquired concerning the ape; and one of
them said, “I know his abiding-place;” and the other asked “Where
abideth he?” Said the speaker “He is in the City of Brass whereon sun
riseth not.” Then said the first Jinni to me, “O Abu Mohammed, take one
of these our slaves, and he will carry thee on his back and teach thee
how thou shalt get back the girl; but know that this slave is a Marid of
the Marids and beware, whilst he is carrying thee, lest thou utter the
name of Allah, or he will flee from thee and thou wilt fall and be
destroyed.” “I hear and obey,” answered I and chose out one of the
slaves, who bent down and said to me, “Mount.” So I mounted on his back,
and he flew up with me into the firmament, till I lost sight of the
earth and saw the stars as they were the mountains of earth fixed and
firm[238] and heard the angels crying, “Praise be to Allah,” in heaven
while the Marid held me in converse, diverting me and hindering me from
pronouncing the name of Almighty Allah.[239] But, as we flew, behold,
One clad in green raiment,[240] with streaming tresses and radiant face,
holding in his hand a javelin whence flew sparks of fire, accosted me,
saying, “O Abu Mohammed, say:—There is no god but _the_ God and Mohammed
is the Apostle of God; or I will smite thee with this javelin.” Now
already I felt heart-broken by my forced silence as regards calling on
the name of Allah; so I said, “There is no god but _the_ God, and
Mohammed is the Apostle of God.” Whereupon the shining One smote the
Marid with his javelin and he melted away and became ashes; whilst I was
thrown from his back and fell headlong towards the earth, till I dropped
into the midst of a dashing sea, swollen with clashing surge. And
behold, I fell hard by a ship with five sailors therein, who seeing me,
made for me and took me up into the vessel; and they began to speak to
me in some speech I knew not; but I signed to them that I understood not
their speech. So they fared on till the last of the day, when they cast
out a net and caught a great fish and they broiled it and gave me to
eat; after which they ceased not sailing on till they reached their city
and carried me to their King and set me in his presence. So I kissed
ground before him, and he bestowed on me a dress of honour and said to
me in Arabic (which he knew well), “I appoint thee one of my officers.”
Thereupon I asked him the name of the city, and he replied, “It is
called Hanád[241] and is in the land of China.” Then he committed me to
his Wazir, bidding him show me the city, which was formerly peopled by
Infidels, till Almighty Allah turned them into stones; and there I abode
a month’s space, diverting myself with viewing the place, nor saw I ever
greater plenty of trees and fruits than there. And when this time had
past, one day, as I sat on the bank of a river, behold, there accosted
me a horseman, who said to me, “Art thou not Abu Mohammed Lazybones?”
“Yes,” answered I; whereupon, he said, “Fear not, for the report of thy
good deed hath reached us.” Asked I, “Who art thou?” and he answered, “I
am a brother of the white serpent, and thou art hard by the place where
is the damsel whom thou seekest.” So saying, he took off his clothes and
clad me therein, saying, “Fear not, for the slave who perished under
thee was one of our slaves.” Then the horseman took me up behind him and
rode on with me to a desert place, when he said, “Dismount now and walk
on between these two mountains, till thou seest the City of Brass;[242]
then halt afar off and enter it not, ere I return to thee and tell thee
how thou shalt do.” “To hear is to obey,” replied I and, dismounting
from behind him, walked on till I came to the city, the walls whereof I
found of brass. Then I began to pace round about it, hoping to find a
gate, but found none; and presently as I persevered behold, the
serpent’s brother rejoined me and gave me a charmed sword which should
hinder any from seeing me,[243] then went his way. Now he had been gone
but a little while, when lo! I heard a noise of cries and found myself
in the midst of a multitude of folk whose eyes were in their breasts;
and seeing me quoth they, “Who art thou, and what cast thee into this
place?” So I told them my story, and they said, “The girl thou seekest
is in this city with the Marid; but we know not what he hath done with
her. Now we are brethren of the white serpent,” adding, “Go thou to
yonder spring and note where the water entereth, and enter thou with it;
for it will bring thee into the city.” I did as they bade me, and
followed the water-course, till it brought me to a Sardáb, a vaulted
room under the earth, from which I ascended and found myself in the
midst of the city. Here I saw the damsel seated upon a throne of gold,
under a canopy of brocade, girt round by a garden full of trees of gold,
whose fruits were jewels of price, such as rubies and chrysolites,
pearls and coral. And the moment she saw me, she knew me and accosted me
with the Moslem salutation, saying, “O my lord, who guided thee hither?”
So I told her all that had passed, and she said, “Know, that the
accursed Marid, of the greatness of his love for me, hath told me what
bringeth him bane and what bringeth him gain; and that there is here a
talisman by means whereof he could, an he would, destroy the city and
all that are therein; and whoso possesseth it, the Ifrits will do his
commandment in everything. It standeth upon a pillar”—Whereat I asked
her, “And where is the pillar?” and she answered, “It is in such a
place.” “And what manner of thing may the talisman be?” said I: said
she, “It is in the semblance of a vulture[244] and upon it is a writing
which I cannot read. So go thou thither and seize it, and set it before
thee and, taking a chafing-dish, throw into it a little musk, whereupon
there will arise a smoke which will draw the Ifrits to thee, and they
will all present themselves before thee, nor shall one be absent; also
they shall be subject to thy word and, whatsoever thou biddest them,
that will they do. Arise therefore and fall to this thing, with the
blessing of Almighty Allah.” I answered, “Hearkening and obedience” and,
going to the column, did as she bade me, whereupon the Ifrits all
presented themselves before me saying, “Here are we, O our lord!
Whatsoever thou biddest us, that will we do.” Quoth I, “Bind the Marid
who brought the damsel hither from her home.” Quoth they, “We hear and
obey,” and off they flew and bound that Marid in straitest bonds and
returned after a while, saying, “We have done thy bidding.” Then I
dismissed them and, repairing to my wife, told her what had happened and
said to her, “O my bride, wilt thou go with me?” “Yes,” answered she. So
I carried her forth of the vaulted chamber whereby I had entered the
city and we fared on, till we fell in with the folk who had shown me the
way to find her.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Three Hundred and Fifth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that he continued on
this wise:—And we fared on till we fell in with the folk who had shown
me the way to her. So I said to them, “Point me out a path which shall
lead me to my home,” and they did accordingly, and brought us a-foot to
the sea-shore and set us aboard a vessel which sailed on before us with
a fair wind, till we reached Bassorah-city. And when we entered the
house of my father-in-law and her people saw my wife, they rejoiced with
exceeding joy. Then I fumigated the vulture with musk and lo! the Ifrits
flocked to me from all sides, saying, “At thy service; what wilt thou
have us do?” So I bade them transport all that was in the City of Brass
of monies and noble metals and stones of price to my house in Bassorah,
which they did; and I then ordered them to bring me the ape. They
brought him before me, abject and contemptible, and I said to him, “O
accursed, why hast thou dealt thus perfidiously with me?” Then I
commanded the Ifrits to shut him in a brazen vessel;[245] so they put
him in a brazen cucurbite and sealed it with lead. But I abode with my
wife in joy and delight; and now, O Commander of the Faithful, I have
under my hand precious things in such measure and rare jewels and other
treasure and monies on such wise as neither reckoning may express nor
may limits comprise; and, if thou lust after wealth or aught else, I
will command the Jinn at once to do thy desire. But all this is of the
bounty of Almighty Allah. Thereupon the Commander of the Faithful
wondered greatly and bestowed on him imperial gifts, in exchange for his
presents, and entreated him with the favour he deserved. And men also
tell the tale of the
-----
Footnote 227:
No porcelain was ever, as far as we can discover, made in Egypt or
Syria of the olden day; but, as has been said, there was a regular
caravan-intercourse with China. At Damascus I dug into the huge
rubbish-heaps and found quantities of pottery, but no China. The same
has lately been done at Clysma, the artificial mound near Suez, and
the glass and pottery prove it to have been a Roman work which
defended the mouth of the old classical sweet-water canal.
Footnote 228:
Arab. “Lá baas ba-zálik,” conversational for “Lá jaram” = there is no
harm in it, no objection to it; and, sometimes, “it is a matter of
course.”
Footnote 229:
A white emerald is yet unknown; but this adds only to the Oriental
extravagance of the picture. I do not think with Lane (ii. 426) that
“abyaz” here can mean “bright.” Dr. Steingass suggests a clerical
error for “khazar” (green).
Footnote 230:
Arab. “Sharárif” plur. of Shurráfah = crenelles or battlements; mostly
trefoil-shaped; _remparts coquets_ which a six-pounder would crumble.
Footnote 231:
Pronounce Abul-Muzaffar = Father of the Conqueror.
Footnote 232:
I have explained the word in my “Zanzibar, City, Island and Coast,”
vol. i. chapt. v. There is still a tribe, the Wadoe, reputed cannibal
on the opposite low East African shore. These blacks would hardly be
held “sons of Adam.” “Zanj” corrupted to “Zinj” (plur. Zunúj) is the
Persian “Zang” or “Zangi,” a black, altered by the Arabs, who ignore
the hard _g_; and, with the suffixion of the Persian -bár (region, as
in Malabar) we have Zang-bár which the Arabs have converted to
“Zanjibar,” in poetry “Mulk al Zunúj” = Land of the Zang. The term is
old; it is the Zingis or Zipgisa of Ptolemy and the Zingium of Cosmas
Indicopleustes; and it shows the influence of Persian navigation in
pre-Islamitic ages. For further details readers will consult “The Lake
Regions of Central Africa” vol. i. chapt. ii.
Footnote 233:
Arab. “Kawárib” plur. of “Kárib” prop. a dinghy, a small boat
belonging to a ship. Here it refers to the canoe (a Carib word) pop.
“dug-out” and classically “monoxyle,” a boat made of a single
tree-trunk hollowed by fire and trimmed with axe and adze. Some of
these rude craft which, when manned, remind one of saturnine Caliph
Omar’s “worms floating on a log of wood,” measure 60 feet long and
more.
Footnote 234:
_i.e._ A descendant of Mohammed in general and especially through
Husayn Ali-son. Here the text notes that the chief of the bazar was of
this now innumerable stock, who inherit the title through the mother
as well as through the father.
Footnote 235:
Arab. “Hasab” (= quantity), the honour a man acquires for himself;
opposed to “Nasab” (genealogy) honours inherited from ancestry: the
Arabic well expresses my old motto (adopted by Chinese Gordon):—
Honour, not Honours.
Footnote 236:
Note the difference between “Takaddum” (= standing in presence of,
also superiority in excellence) and “Takádum” (priority in time).
Footnote 237:
Lane (ii. 427) gives a pleasant Eastern illustration of this saying.
Footnote 238:
A Koranic fancy; the mountains being the pegs which keep the earth in
place. “And he hath thrown before the earth mountains firmly rooted,
lest it should move with you.” (Koran, chapt. xvi.) The earth when
first created was smooth and thereby liable to a circular motion, like
the celestial orbs; and, when the Angels asked who could stand on so
tottering a frame, Allah fixed it the next morning by throwing the
mountains in it and pegging them down. A fair prolepsis of the
Neptunian theory.
Footnote 239:
Easy enough for an Englishman to avoid saying “by God,” but this
common incident in Moslem folk-lore appeals to the peoples who are
constantly using the word Allah Wallah, Billah, etc. The Koran
expressly says, “Make not Allah the scope (object, lit. arrow-butt) of
your oaths” (chapt. ii. 224); yet the command is broken every minute.
Footnote 240:
This must be the ubiquitous Khizr, the Green Prophet; when Ali
appears, as a rule he is on horseback.
Footnote 241:
The name is apparently imaginary; and a little below we find that it
was close to Jinn-land. China was very convenient for this purpose:
the medieval Moslems, who settled in considerable numbers at Canton
and elsewhere, knew just enough of it to know their own ignorance of
the vast empire. Hence the Druzes of the Libanus still hold that part
of their nation is in the depths of the Celestial Empire.
Footnote 242:
I am unwilling to alter the old title to “City of Copper” as it should
be; the pure metal having been technologically used long before the
alloy of copper and zinc. But the Maroccan City (Night dlxvi. _et
seq._) was of brass (not copper). The Hindus of Upper India have an
Iram which they call Hari Chand’s city (Colonel Tod); and I need
hardly mention the Fata Morgana, Island of Saint Borondon; Cape
Fly-away; the Flying Dutchman, etc. etc., all the effect of “looming.”
Footnote 243:
This sword which makes men invisible and which takes place of
Siegfried’s Tarnkappe (invisible cloak) and of “Fortunatus’ cap” is
common in Moslem folk-lore. The idea probably arose from the venerable
practice of inscribing the blades with sentences, verses and magic
figures.
Footnote 244:
Arab. “’Ukáb,” in books an eagle (especially black) and P. N. of
constellation but in pop. usage = a vulture. In Egypt it is the
Neophron Percnopterus (Jerdon) or N. Gingianus (Latham), the Dijájat
Far’aun or Pharaoh’s hen. This bird has been known to kill the Báshah
sparrow-hawk (Jerdon i. 60); yet, curious to say, the reviewers of my
“Falconry in the Valley of the Indus” questioned the fact, known to so
many travellers, that the falcon is also killed by this “tiger of the
air,” despite the latter’s feeble bill (pp. 35-38). I was faring badly
at their hands when the late Mr. Burckhardt Barker came to the rescue.
Falconicide is popularly attributed, not only to the vulture, but also
to the crestless hawk-eagle (Nisætus Bonelli) which the Hindus call
Morángá = peacock-slayer.
Footnote 245: