they pierce
  Through their tough hides; or at their gaping mouths
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  An easier passage find.  The king of brutes
  In broken roarings breathes his last; the bear
  Grumbles in death; nor can his spotted skin,
  Though sleek it shine, with varied beauties gay,
  Save the proud pard from unrelenting fate. 
  The battle bleeds, grim Slaughter strides along,
  Glutting her greedy jaws, grins o’er her prey. 
  Men, horses, dogs, fierce beasts of every kind,
  A strange promiscuous carnage, drenched in blood,
  And heaps on heaps amassed.  What yet remain
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  Alive, with vain assault contend to break
  The impenetrable line.  Others, whom fear
  Inspires with self-preserving wiles, beneath
  The bodies of the slain for shelter creep. 
  Aghast they fly, or hide their heads dispersed. 
  And now perchance (had Heaven but pleased) the work
  Of death had been complete; and Aurengzebe
  By one dread frown extinguished half their race. 
  When lo! the bright sultanas of his court
  Appear, and to his ravished eyes display
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  Those charms, but rarely to the day revealed. 
     Lowly they bend, and humbly sue, to save
  The vanquished host.  What mortal can deny
  When suppliant beauty begs?  At his command
  Opening to right and left, the well-trained troops
  Leave a large void for their retreating foes. 
  Away they fly, on wings of fear upborne,
  To seek on distant hills their late abodes. 
     Ye proud oppressors, whose vain hearts exult
  In wantonness of power, ’gainst the brute race,
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  Fierce robbers like yourselves, a guiltless war
  Wage uncontrolled:  here quench your thirst of blood: 
  But learn from Aurengzebe to spare mankind.

BOOK III.

THE ARGUMENT.

Of King Edgar and his imposing a tribute of wolves’ heads upon the kings of Wales:  from hence a transition to fox-hunting, which is described in all its parts.—­Censure of an over-numerous pack.—­Of the several engines to destroy foxes, and other wild beasts.—­The steel-trap described, and the manner of using it.—­Description of the pitfall for the lion; and another for the elephant.—­The ancient way of hunting the tiger with a mirror.—­The Arabian manner of hunting the wild boar.—­Description of the royal stag-chase at Windsor Forest.—­Concludes with an address to his Majesty, and an eulogy upon mercy.

  In Albion’s isle when glorious Edgar reigned,
  He wisely provident, from her white cliffs
  Launched half her forests, and with numerous fleets
  Covered his wide domain:  there proudly rode
  Lord of the deep, the great prerogative
  Of British monarchs.  Each invader bold,
  Dane and Norwegian, at a distance gazed,
  And disappointed, gnashed his teeth in vain. 
  He scoured the seas, and to remotest shores