FIGHTING THE INSECTS 



of Mokrzecki the manager had purchased American spraying 

 machinery and had built a fumigating house for all nursery stock. 

 The orchard seemed singularly free from insect pests, with the 

 sole exception of the apple weevil, which, although quite abun- 

 dant, apparently had done little damage. 



After two hours' walk in a hot sun we went to the mansion- 

 like farmhouse, and were introduced to Mme. Andrieff and | 

 her children. She had made ready a wonderful luncheon, at which 

 all sorts of dishes of which I was ignorant were served. A great 

 loaf of Passover bread was on the table, and many other kinds 

 of bread, stuffed with meat and with fish. Many bottles of 

 champagne were opened, and Andrieff made an enthusiastic and 

 altogether too complimentary speech in French. 



All of us then went to the village of Bachtisserai, and spent 

 the rest of the daylight hours going through the old Palace of 

 the Khan of the Crimea, a wonderfully beautiful structure, al- 

 though somewhat dilapidated. It had been the purpose of the 

 Czar to maintain this as an historical museum of the Tatar 

 regime in that part of Russia, but the plan had been stopped 

 for the time by the financial embarrassment caused by the Russo- 

 Japanese war. There was only one caretaker, and everything was 

 covered with dust. The famous Countess Potocka was at one 

 time imprisoned in the place, and there is a fountain in the palace 

 known as Les larmes de Potocka. The palace is built of wood, 

 but it is very beautiful and wonderfully effective. It was used 

 at one time as a winter resort by Catherine the Great. Delight- 

 ful and picturesque as this place is, it seems rarely to have 

 been visited by tourists. 



At nightfall we boarded the train again, and arrived before 

 bedtime at Simferopol. The following day we spent at the 

 Mokrzecki museum, a very good regional museum which 

 Mokrzecki had built up by his own efforts, and which was 



[104] 



