he use of the lasso by
the South Americans and the employment of nooses by various nations, not
merely in hunting, but in warfare. It is doubtful, however, if the
Assyrian practice approached at all closely to any of these. The noose,
if it may be so called, was of a very peculiar kind. It was not formed
by means of a slip-knot at the end of a single cord, but resulted from
the interlacing of two ropes one with the other. There is great
difficulty in understanding how the ropes were got into their position.
Certainly no single throw could have placed then, round the neck of the
animal in the manner represented, nor could the capture have been
effected, according to all appearance, by a single hunter. Two persons,
at least, must have been required to combine their efforts--one before
and one behind the creature which it was designed to capture.

[Illustration: PLATE 122]

Deer, which have always abounded in Assyria were either hunted with
dogs, or driven by beaters into nets, or sometimes shot with arrows by
sportsmen. The illustration (PLATE CXXII., Fig. 1) represents a dog in
chase of a hind, and shows that the hounds which the Assyrians used for
this purpose were of the same breed as those employed in the hunt of the
lion and of the wild ass. In [PLATE CXXII., Fig. 2.] we have a stricken
stag, which may, perhaps, have been also hard pressed by hounds, in the
act of leaping from rocky ground into water. It is interesting to find
this habit of the stag, with which the modern English sportsman is so
familiar, not merely existing in Assyria, but noticed by Assyrian
sculptors, at the distance of more than twenty-five centuries from our
own time.

When deer were to be taken by nets, the sportsman began by setting in an
upright position, with the help of numerous poles and pegs, a long, low
net, like the [dikrvov] of the Greeks. [PLATE CXXII., Fig. 1.] This was
carried round in a curved line of considerable length, so as to enclose
an ample space on every side excepting one, which was left open for the
deer to enter. The meshes of the net were large and not very regular.
They were carefully secured by knots at all the angles. The net was
bordered both at top and at bottom by a rope of much greater strength
and thickness than that which formed the network; and this was fastened
to the ground at the two extremities by pegs of superior size. [PLATE
CXXIII., Fig. 2.] The general height of the net was about that of a man,
but