THE STORY OF AN ENTOMOLOGIST 



or in the wine cellars. The estate was large, and the Mayor must 

 have been a very wealthy man. His vineyards were in excellent 

 condition, with no evidence of Phylloxera or, in fact, of any in- 

 jurious insects. The buildings were all of a glaring white, 

 modern, very handsome, with good architectural lines, but 

 strangely ornamented by a series of patterns, the unit of which 

 was a round black spot, a little more than two inches in diameter. 

 ConstantinofI told me that these spots were the butts of cham- 

 pagne bottles that had been picked up on the ground when the 

 estate was bought. He accounted for their presence by the fact 

 that the French troops, during the Crimean War, were encamped 

 on that part of the Peninsula. The bottles had been set in cement 

 and formed a very artistic ornamentation to the building. 



In a spare hour I was unwise enough to visit the War Museum, 

 which was connected with a great panorama of the Crimean 

 War. I got from this museum the best idea that I had ever had 

 of the horrors of war, and it caused me many a nightmare 

 later. 



It is a wonder to me that so few tourists have visited that 

 garden spot of the Crimean Peninsula. The scenery of the rocky 

 place on the coast known as lalta is of the most beautiful and 

 impressive character. The old palace at Bachtisserai was one of 

 the greatest curiosities of Europe. The climate of the whole Pen- 

 insula was delightful, the hotels were good, and the people 

 were hospitable. The descendants of the old Tatars were still 

 living there in numbers. 



But I must not leave Mokrzecki with this brief mention. Great 

 trouble was to come to him, as well as to my other Russian 

 scientific friends. After the Second Revolution and the overthrow 

 of the Kerensky Government, the Red Armies spread through 

 Little Russia and invaded the Crimea. As is well known, thou- 

 sands upon thousands of people fled before them into Sebastopol 



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