The Memoirs of Bābur 910.7.7

910.7.7

The cultivated lands of Kābul lie between mountains which are like great dams[849] to the flat valley-bottoms in which most villages and peopled places are. On these mountains _kīyik_ and _āhū_[850] are scarce. Across them, between its summer and winter quarters, the dun sheep,[851] the _arqārghalcha_, have their regular track,[852] to which braves go out with dogs and birds[853] to take them. [Sidenote: Fol. 142.] Towards Khūrd-kābul and the Sūrkh-rūd there is wild-ass, but there are no white _kīyik_ at all; Ghaznī has both and in few other places are white _kīyik_ found in such good condition.[854] In the heats the fowling-grounds of Kābul are crowded. The birds take their way along the Bārān-water. For why? It is because the river has mountains along it, east and west, and a great Hindū-kush pass in a line with it, by which the birds must cross since there is no other near.[855] They cannot cross when the north wind blows, or if there is even a little cloud on Hindū-kush; at such times they alight on the level lands of the Bārān-water and are taken in great numbers by the local people. Towards the end of winter, dense flocks of mallards (_aūrdūq_) reach the banks of the Bārān in very good condition. Follow these the cranes and herons,[856] great birds, in large flocks and countless numbers. (_j. Bird-catching._)