A summary description of the noblest of the animal creation having been given, I proceed to notice the lower types of animal life.
The Ban-mánus is an animal like a baboon, dark in colour, and in stature and face resembling a human being and walks on two feet. Although it has no tail, its body is slightly covered with hair. One of these was brought to His Majesty from Bengal which performed the most astonishing antics. Elephants, lions,* leopards, panthers, tigers, bears, wolves and dogs of various breeds, and monkeys, lynxes, hyænas, jackals, foxes, otters, cats, white and tawny and even winged that will fly for a short distance, and other kinds of animals are numerous. Sardól is the name of an animal smaller than a dog but preys upon lions and other wild beasts. Through the encouragement of His Majesty, the breed of horses is as fine as those of Iráḳ and Arabia. The rhinoceres is a stupendous creature. He is twice the size of a buffalo and much resembles a horse in armour. His feet and hoofs are like those of an elephant, and his tail similar to a buffalo's, and he has a pastern-joint like a horse. On the point of his snout he carries a single horn and his hide is so thick that an arrow will not pierce it. Of this, breast-plates and shields and the like are made, and he is bold enough to charge a man on horseback. The black antelope, has two long horns and for beauty and swiftness is unrivalled among his kind. The deer, from which the musk is taken, is larger than the fox, and his coat is rough. He shows two tusks and protuberances in place of horns. They are common in the northern mountains. The Yák approximates to the domestic cow but of its tail is made the ḳutás* or fringed tassel, and many they join together. There is also the civet cat.
The Shárak* is an astonishing talker, and listeners would not distinguish its tones from human speech.
The Mynah* is twice the size of the Shárak, with glossy black plumage, but with the bill, wattles and tail-coverts yellow. It imitates the human voice and speaks with great distinctness.
Parrots are of different colours, red, white and green and talk like human beings. At the present time, under His Majesty's patronage, animals of all kinds from Persia, Turkestán, and Kashmír whether game or other, have been brought together to the wonderment of beholders.
The Kóél,* is like a mynah, jet black with crimson irides and a long tail. Romance sings of its loves as of those of the bulbul.
The Papíhá,* is smaller than the Kóél, with a shorter and slenderer tail. Its love is chanted in story. It is in full song in the beginning of the rainy season and has a peculiar note and its plaintive strain is heard oftenest at night, and makes love's unhealed wounds bleed anew. It is from its note that the word píu is taken, which in Hindi signifies ‘beloved.’
The Háril* has green plumage with a white bill and crimson irides, smaller than the ordinary pigeon. It never settles upon the ground and when it alights to drink, it carries with it a twig which it keeps beneath its feet till its thirst is quenched.
The Baya* is like a wild sparrow but yellow. It is extremely intelligent, obedient and docile. It will take small coins from the hand and bring them to its master and will come to a call from a long distance. Its nests are so ingeniously constructed as to defy the rivalry of clever artificers.
The astonishing feats which the animals of this country can perform and their beautiful variety of colouring is beyond the power of my inexperience to describe. Former romancers have related stories in abundance of their extraordinary characteristics but the writer of this work mentions nothing that he has not himself seen or heard from accurate observers.
I write of things within my ken
Nor tell a twice-told tale again.