Note 430 — TALE OF KING OMAR BIN AL-NU'UMAN AND HIS SONS SHARRKAN AND ZAU AL-MAKAN, AND WHAT BEFEL THEM OF THINGS SELD-SEEN AND PEREGRINE.[138] (continued 4)
Richard Francis Burton translation
Carrier-pigeons were extensively used at this time. The Caliph Al-Násir li-Díni 'llah (regn. A. H. 575=1180) was, according to Ibn Khaldún, very fond of them. The moderns of Damascus still affect them. My successor, Mr. Consul Kirby Green, wrote an excellent report on pigeon-fancying at Damascus. The so-called Maundeville or Mandeville in A.D. 1322 speaks of carrier-pigeons in Syria as a well-known mode of intercourse between lord and lord.