jaw being torn away, the device of a running
bow-line knot is always adopted : this noose
being slipped down the rope, and passed over
the monster's head, is made to join at the point
of junction of the tail with the body. "When
this is once fixed the first act of the piece is
held to be complete, and the vanquished enemy
is afterwards easily drawn over the top-rail,
and flung on the deck, to the unspeakable
delight of all hands. But although the shark
is out of his element, he has by no means lost
his power of doing mischief; and I would
advise no one to come within range of the tail,
or trust his toes too near the animal's mouth.
The blow of a tolerably large sized shark's
tail might break a man's leg, and I have seen
a three-inch hide tilter-rope bitten more than
half through, full ten minutes after the wretch
had been dragged about the quarter-deck, and
had made all his victims keep at the most re-
spectful distance. I remember hearing the
late Dr. Wollaston, with his wonted ingenuity,
suggest a method for measuring the strength
of a shark's bite. If a smooth plate of lead,
he thought, were thrust into the fish's mouth,
the depth which his teeth should pierce the
lead would furnish a sort of scale of the force
exerted.
" I need scarcely mention that when a shark
is floundering about, the quarter-deck becomes
a scene of pretty considerable confusion, and
if there be blood on the occasion, as there
generally is from all this rough usage, the
stains are not to be got rid of without a
week's scrubbing, and many a growl from the
captain of the after-guard. For this time,
however, all such considerations are super-
seded ; that is to say, if the commander him-
self takes an interest in the sport, and he must
be rather a spooney skipper that does not: if
he be indifferent about the fate of the shark,
it is speedily dragged fonvard to the forecastle,
amidst the kicks, thumps, and execration of
the conquerors, who very soon terminate his
miserable career by stabbing him with their
knives, boarding-pikes, and tomahawks, like
so many wild Indians.
The first operation is always to deprive him
of his tail, which is seldom an easy matter, it
not being at all safe to come too near him, but
some dexterous hand, familiar with the use of
the broad axe, watches for a quiet moment,
and at a single blow severs it from the body.
He is then closed with by another, who leaps
across the prostrate foe, and with an adroit
cut rips him open from snout to tail, and the
tragedy is over, so far as the struggles and
sufferings of the principal actor are concerned.
There always follows, however, the most
lively curiosity on the part of the sailors, to
learn what the shark has got stowed away in
his inside, but they are often disappointed, for
the stomach is generally empty. I remember
one famous exception, indeed, when a very
large fellow was caught on board the Alceste
in Angree roads, at Java, when we were pro-
ceeding to China with the embassy, under
lord Amherst. A number of ducks and hens,
which had died in the night, were, as usual,
thrown overboard in the morning, besides se-
veral baskets, and many other minor things,
such as bundles of shavings, and bits of cord-
PIERCE EGAN'S BOOK OF SPORTS.
157
age, all which things were found in this huge
sea-monster's inside. But was excited most
surprise and admiration was the hide of a
buft'alo, killed on board that day, for the ship's
company's dinner. The old sailor who had
cut open the shark stood with a foot on each
side, and drew out the articles, one by one,
from the huge cavern into which they had
been indiscriminately drawn. "When the
operator came at last to the buffalo's-skin, he
held it up before him like a curtain, and
exclaimed, * There, my lads, d'ye see that ? he
has swallowed a buffalo, but he could not
dis-gest the hide."
THE GREAT BLACK FIGHT BETWEEN MANUEL
VlCTORINE AND LALLA SoORTEE.
A. little " bit of 'LIFE ," it should seem, is the
order of the day in Bombay, amongst the folks
who are far distant from their * dear native
home ;" and like at every other place when
the NOBS can enjoy it upon the sly, they do
not mind masquerading it for a short time to
please " their Fancy." The Editor of the
Sporting Magazine, published at the Courier
Press, appears from the description of " the
ROW," as he terms it, to have most fully entered
into spirit of the Black Mill.' He thus ob-
serves : " Yesterday morning several hun-
dred coppered-coloured amateurs of sporting
celebrity, who uphold by their patronage the
nascent interests of native pugilism, proceeded
to settle the long chaffed of fight between the
above named coveys, Manuel being a Bawur-
chee, from Bandora, near that pig-prolific place
Muhim ; and Lalla, a milling Mussaulchee,
of the Mogul Seroy, Surat, for a bottle of rack
and a belly full.
" The quarrel which gave rise to this meet-
ing is somewhat singular, and deserves pre-
vious mention ; it originated in Lalla having,
upon a certain afternoon, furtively and feloni-
ously introduced his long bony fingers into a
dish of curry, just removed from master's
table, with the somewhat proper intention of
extracting all, or parts, of its savoury contents,
for the benefit, comfort, and consolation of his
own personal gastic regions ; and which said
avoury contents, time out of mind (that is,
since he was able to handle a handee in the
kitchen, or chase a chicken to death in the
compound), had ever been considered by
Manuel (agreeably to the usages of his ances-
tors) as his legitimate property, and had by
him been always accordingly appropriated to
his own private and peculiar refreshment.
This atrocious intrusion did not escape the
lynx-eyed vigilance of the injured person, who
having what is commonly called an obliquity
of vision, had (whilst his straight- forward
optic watched the projection of the pudding)
kept his Lesbian squinter dancing in zig-zags
all over the kitchen.
Hie cook-bo'ys eye, in a mm phrenty rolling,
Glances from pot to pan, from pan to pot.
And, as the streamy odours issuing forth
Denote their rich contents, the cook-boy's ladle
Tumbles them forth, and gives to hungry subs
A devilish tine blow-out and d d pood feed !'
Manuel, thus wary and vigilant, although
busied in the mysterious duties of his avoca-
tion, heard, with surprise, the lean and hun-
gry Cassius-looking Lalla, as he stealthily
stole into the cook-room ; he watched him
with wonder, ogling the curry-dish ; he beheld
him with horror lift the lid, and with uncon-
trollable indignation he saw him thrust his
Day-and-Martin fist slap-dash in the saffron-
coloured contents, which, with the skill and'
rapidity of an accomplished purloiner, he was
conveying to the upper end of his middle gar-
ment, when, dashing the custard full into the
pilferer's face, the enraged Bawurchee bran-
dished his iron ladle, and, with one well-
directed blow, he laid Mussaulchee flat !
" No sooner had he thus floored him, than
he applied his foot, with scientific force and
dexterity, to that tender part of poor Lalla's
person, which I should blush to mention, but
which George Column, in his usual felicitous
way, wittily, yet delicately, denominates
The head's Antipodes.' Thus both ends of
the intruder's carcase experienced their share
of punishment ; the upper story from the
ladle thump, and the blistering effects of the
scalding custard, and the fundamental depart-
ment from the rat-a-tat application of the
cook's unmitigated kicks. The prostrate pil-
ferer darted from the scene of his disgrace,
well daubed with the yellow fruits of his
crime, blent with the hot creamy curds of the
custard, and sprinkled with the blood which
the blow on his head and the kicks on the op-
posite sphere had produced from his nasal
promontory.
" The butler listened to the Mussaulchee's
story, who, having the very material advantage
of a first hearing, was, of course, believed and
absolved from all blame ; while the cook,
though he produced the remains of both curry
and custard, in corroboration of the correct-
ness of his statement, was pronounced to be a
liar, and reported as such and more to his
master, who, of course, on the Bootrel's ver-
dict ordered him into the house, and licked
him on the spot. This second hand sort of
justice, from the hands of the Sahib, did not
satisfy the gnawings of revenge which the
Mussaulchee felt in his bosom, and the beat-
ing which the cook had so unjustly received
made him also impatient to return the same
with interest on the skin and bones of the
vialator of his rights. Both being so ready
and so willing, a meeting was arranged by
their mutual friends, and it was agreed (at the
suggestion of some incipient pugilists) that
they should box it out, Enylis fassun, and that
day fortnight was fixed for the night.
" THE PREPARATIONS. The day dawned as
days usually dawn in the Deccan ; first a faint
158
PIERCE EGAN'S ROOK OF SPORTS
greyish light glimmered in the east, then off
went the morning gun, and on to parade
marched the military, and out for their consti-
tutionals toddled the civil and the sick ; a tint
of crimson flushed the horizon, and up rose
the golden sun ; then back to their barracks
bundled the red-jackets, and home to their
cribs cantered the blacks. The intelligence
of a fight with fists having been widely spread,
and the office having been given for Bosre-
gaum, a half ruined village about seven miles
from Poona, the roads leading to it by the
Sungum, Kirkee, or Bhopekail, were crowded
with all the native lads of the Fancy in camp,
from the peculating Parsee rumbling in his
cow-cart, or rattling on his broken-kneed and
broken-winded prad, to the pariar outcast,
who, for the love of fun and the novelty of a
fight, had for once forsaken the necessary
duties of his brush and basket, and left his
matutinal stores, like unseen flowers, ' to
waste their sweetness in the desert air.' In
one continuous line, like a procession of black
ants, were seen the senor partizans of the
cook ; the first circle sort dandily done up in
true Monmouth-street toggery, with faded
green coats, sky-blue waistcoats, and yellow-
ochre tights, their tout ensemble something
Europeanized by the frilled shirts of their
masters borrowed from the Dhobee, and their
dog's ears bound up to their cheek bones by
dingy silk fogies. Most of these kiddies
might have quoted the facetious Hood, and
said,
1 have a hat which is not all a hat,
Part of the brim is gone.'
The riff-raff coves of this party were princi-
pally countrymen also, joined by others of
* Master's caste,' coatless, hatless, shoeless,
shirtless, almost breechless rogues, who kept
up the courage and spirits of their champion
by shouting well-known rhymes of reproach
to the sons of Surat. The Mussaulchee was
escorted by the cadgers, costermongers, prime
slavey swells, and nothing-to-do lootchas of
every sect in (lamp, Hindoo, Purwarree, Mus-
sulmaun, Dhare, high caste, low caste, and
no caste, all with noise, uproars, shouts,
threats, oaths, and abuse ; all in dust and con-
fusion, toddled on all agog for the tray, all
ripe for fun and all brimful of rack, and
mowrah, and opium, and ' that veed of all
veeds, boys, the backee.'
44 APPEARANCK CF TIIK MEN. At half-past
seven Manuel, attired in a sky-blue (something
tarnished) coat, garnished with brass buttons,
with the flaps warming his hips, and the skirts
dallying with his heels, in a red waistcoat that
looked like an infantry shell, and nankeen
h'e-for-shames that reached to his calves, en-
tered the centre of the gentlemanly crowd,
attended by his two intimate friends, Antonu
and Gabriel ; the latter as little resembled his
Ans;el namesake as the former did his patron
saint. On shelling, Manuel appeared in good
condition ; a squinting, swarthy, long-backed
covey, with a straight leg and a bandy one, a
half woolly head of hair, deep set dark eyes,
a Blackfriars-bridge kind of konk, and a par-
ticularly pendulous nether lip. Lalla. arrived
and peeled at the same time, and never was
there seen so splendid a specimen of anatomy ;
he was a fac-simile of the *" Living Skeleton ;'
indeed, so little flesh or muscle did he exhibit,
that his bones rattled as he walked. He was
pewter-blind of his dexter ogle, and his sinis-
ter one was as protrusive as a lobster's ; be-
tween those lay his sneezer, a three-eornered
looking feature, like the button of a privy-
door ; his nostrils extending equal to the cor-
ners of his lips, which were both skinny and
scruffy.
"THE FIGHT. Round 1. Both inen were
over lushy, ;)nd, consequently, not over leary.
Manuel's fists were elevated over his head at
arms' length, as though he would pound his
adversary into powder. Lalla's right mauley
was doubled up to his right ear, whilst his
left, stiff and straight, pointed smack at his
opponent's naval depot. In these attitudes
they stood for some seconds, and bespattered
each other's relatives with dreadful abuse, till,
roused by an indelicate allusion to his mother,
the cook let fall his fists whack on the Mus-
saulchee's cannister, and down he went.
Shouts of ' Sha-bash for the Bawurchee !'
"2. Lalla, without waiting for useless
sparring, rushed in, striking right and left,
and missing all, and dashing his head into the
pit of Manuel's granary, who instantly favored
Mussaulchee with the whole of its curious
contents, and fell.
" Laila stood up quite fresh, and Manuel
faint and puking ; the former again made his
rush, but the other, though weakly, was wary,
and, seizing him by the right ear with one
hand, continued to shove the thumb of the
other into the only ogie in Lalla's unfortunate
phiz, who, in great agony, fastened his teeth
in Manuel's ear, and brought him down.
'* 4. Lalla came to the scratch bellowing
and blind, Manuel still catting and crafty ;
but before Lalla's sight would enable him to
see the blow, the cook's foot fell dab on his
ivories, which rattled like the loose keys of a
harpsichord. ' He's loze all his tooths !' cried
a Parsheeman. ' That dam lie,' said a Senor,
' he not Jose all, him only knockee out two !'
Another dig on his rice-grinders settled the
round by a struggle on the soft rocks.
"5. Manuel's friends had now whispered
him to try Lalla's early mode of skirmishing,
by ramming his pimple into Lalla's bowel-box,
which manoeuvre he accordingly attempted to
put into practice ; but, as his opponent hap-
pened also to do the same, their brain-pots
came together with a shock that sent both
staggering and stunned down to mother
inuttee.
" Cth, and last. Both seemed bothered ; the
Mussaulchee bled at the nose and mouth, ami
the cook looked like a tiger cat ; and seizing
hold of Lalla's lean legs, he lifted him from
PIERCE EGAN'S BOOK OF SPORTS.
the ground, and threw him over his shoulders ;
but Lalla, fixing on the softest and lowest part
of his back, bit him there till his teeth met.
Manuel roared out with pain, and retaliated
on the Mussaulchee's calfless limbs ; both in
agony rolled on the ground, keeping their
holds like bull dogs, till Manuel's friends
rushed in to part them, and Lalla's partizans
attempted to prevent any interference ; so a
general row took place, blows resounded,
stones flew about, and sticks rattled against
the bones of the skirmishers, till, after much
bloodshed and more bruises, both parties se-
parated, each carrying off their champion as
the conqueror, and each side, of course, claim-
ing the victory.
' ; REMARKS. In this fight, the first of the
kind ever recorded in Indian annals, it was
flesh and bandy-leg against bones and a pew-
ter-eye ; both men were more bit than beat,
and we trust that the very respectable native
amateurs of this science, who patronized this
battle, will endeavour to make their fighters
make, in future, more use of their knuckles
am] less of their grinders. Manuel went home
and .-non got beastly drunk with arrack, while
LalJu, not satisfied with his beating, banged
himself a la sortee.
" Potma, Oct. 17, 1829."
ANECDOTES OF
From an interesting volume, recently pub-
lished, entitled, " Gleanings of Natural His-
tory," by E. Jessop, esq., the following pleas-
ing extracts have been taken z
Larks' Glares. " The lark makes its nest
generally in grass fields, where it is liable to
be injured either by cattle grazing over it, or
by the mower. In case of al*rm, from either
these or other causes, the p*v nt birds remove
their eggs, by means of thblr long claws, to a
place of greater security; and this transporta-
tion I have observed to be effected in a very
short space of time. By placing a lark's egg,
which is rather large in proportion to the size
of the bird, in the foot, and then drawing the
claws over it, you will perceive that they are
of sufficient length to secure the egg firmly ;
and by this means the bird is enabled to con-
vey its eggs to another place, where she can
sit upon and hatch them."
Sagacity of an Elephant. " I was one day
feeding the poor elephant (who was so barba-
rously put to death at Exeter Change) with
potatoes, which he took out of my hand. One
of them, a round one, fell on the floor, just out
of the reach of his proboscis. He leaned
against his wooden bar, put out his trunk, and
could just touch the potato, but could aot.pick
it up. After several ineffectual efforts, he at
last blew the potato against the opposite wall
with sufficient force to make it rebound ; and
he then, without difficulty, secured it."
Jlcea. " A large brown slug made its way
into a glass hive, where the operations of the
bees could be distinctly seen. Having killed
the slug, and finding that they were unable to
get it out of the hive, they covered it over
with the thick resinous substance called pro-
polis, and thus prevented its becoming a nui-
sance to the colony. Into the same hive one
of the common brown-shelled snails also
gained admittance. Instead of embedding it
in propolis, the bees contented themselves
with fixing it to the bottom of the hive, by
plastering the edge with that substance. I
have now in my possession a regular fortifica-
tion made of propolis, which one of my stocks
of bees placed at the entrance of their hive,
to enable them the better to protect themselves
from the attacks of wasps. By means of this
fortification, a few bees could effectually guard
the entrance, by lessening the space of admis-
sion, which I had neglected to do for them."
Snail-shells. " Having frequently observed
some broken snail-shells near two projecting
pebbles on a gravel-walk, which had a hollow
between them, I endeavoured to discover the
occasion of their being brought to that situa-
tion. At last I saw a thrush fly to the spot
with a snail-shell in his mouth, which he
placed between the two stones, and hammered
at it with his beak till he had broken it, and
was then able to feed on its contents. The
bird must have discovered that he could not
apply his beak with sufficient force to break
the shell while it was rolling about, and he
therefore found out and made use of a spot
which would keep the shell in one position.,
I do not know whether Mr. M'Adani has ever
observed the same circumstance, but his inge-
nious contrivance (if it is his) of confining
stones in a sort of hoop while they are being
broken is somewhat similar to that of the
thrush."
Aquatic Hen. "A hen, who had reared
three broods of ducks in three successive
years, became habituated to their taking to
the water, and would fly to a large stone in the
middle of the pond, and patiently and quietly
watch her brood as they swam about it. The
fourth year she hatched her own eggs ; and,
finding that her chickens did not take to the
water as the ducklings had done, she flew to
the stone in the pond, and called them to her
with the utmost eagerness. This recollection
of the habits of her former charge, though it
had taken place a year before, is not a little
curious."
A Swan's " First Lore."' A. pair of Swans
had been inseparable companions for three
years, during w hich time they had reared three
broods of cygnets. Last autumn the male was
killed, and since that time the female has
separated herself from all society with her
own species ; and, though at the time I am
writing (the end of March) the breeding
season for swans is far advanced, she remains
in the same state of seclusion, resisting the
addresses of a male swan who has been making
advances towards forming an acquaintance
with her, either driving him away, or flying
1GO
PIERCE EGAN'S BOOK OF SPORTS.
from him whenever he comes near her. How
long she will continue in her present state of
widowhood I know not, but at present it is
quite evident that she has not forgotten her
former partner."
Affection of Pigeons. "A man, set to
watch a field of peas which had been much
preyed upon by pigeons, shot an old cock
pigeon who had long been an inhabitant of
the farm. His mate, around whom he had
for many a year cooed, and nourished from his
own crop, and assisted in rearing numerous
young ones, immediately settled on the ground
by his side, and showed her grief in the most
expressive manner. The labourer took up the
dead bird and tied it to a short stake, think-
ing that it would frighten away the other
depredators. In this situation, however, his
partner did not forsake him, but continued,
day after day, walking slowly round the
stick. The kind-hearted wife of the bailiff
of the farm at last heard of the circumstance,
and immediately went to afford what relief
she could to the poor bird. She told me that,
on arriving at the spot, she found the hen bird
much exhausted, and that she had made a cir-
cular beaten track round the dead pigeon,
making now and then a little spring towards
him. On the removal of the dead bird, the
hen returned to the dove-cot."
Sagacity of Dogs. " He informed me that
a friend of his, an officer in the 44th regiment,
who had occasion, when in Paris, to pass one
of the bridges across the Seine, had his boots,
which had been previously well polished,
dirtied by a poodle dog rubbing against them.
He in consequence went to a man who was
stationed on the bridge and had them cleaned.
The same circumstance having occurred more
than once, his curiosity was excited, and he
watched the dog. He saw him roll himself
in the mud of the river, and then watch for a
person with well polished boots, against which
he contrived to rub himself. Finding that the
shoe-black was the owner of the dog, he
taxed him with the artifice ; and after a little
hesitation he confessed that he had taught the
dog the trick in order to procure customers for
himself. The officer, being much struck with
the dog's sagacity, purchaced him at a high
price, and brought him to England. He kept
him tied up in London some time, and then
released him. The dog remained with him a
a day or two, and then made his escape. A
fortnight afterwards he was found with his
former master pursuing his old trade on the
bridge.
" A friend of mine had a poodle-dog pos-
sessed of more than ordinary sagacity, but he
was, however, under little command. In
order to keep him in better order, my friend
purchased a small whip, with which he cor-
rected the dog once or twice during a walk.
On his return the whip was put on a table in
the hall, and the next morning it was missing.
It was soon afterwards found concealed in an
out-building, and again made use of in cor
recting the dog. It was, however, again lost,
but found hidden in another place. On
watching the dog, who was suspected of being
the culprit, he was seen to take the whip from
the hall table, and run away with it, in order
again to hide it. The late James Gumming,
esq., was the owner of the dog, and related
this anecdote to me.
" A gentleman, a good shot, lent a favorite
old pointer to a friend, who had not much to
accuse himself of in the slaughter of partridges,
however much he might have frightened them.
After ineffectually firing at some birds which
the old pointer had found for him, the dog
turned away in apparent disgust, went home,
and never could be persuaded to accompany
the same person afterwards.'*
Cockney Bee-hive. " I hear of a hive of
bees on the top of a house in the middle of
Holborn, which is doing very well. The cir-
cumstance of bees finding their way home
through the thick smoke, fogs, and vapours of
the metropolis, seems to prove that their
course is not directed by sight, but by some
still unexplained instinct."