850 THE BISONS OF THE CAUCASUS. 



inhabitants of the countr}', certainly came from the regions of Zelent- 

 chouk and the Grand Laba. 



The first European hunter who had tlie fortune to meet and van- 

 quish the living bison in the forests of the Caucasus was an English- 

 man, Mr. Littledale, a sportsman renowned for his hunting exploits 

 in all parts of the world. 



His first excursion, in 1887, begun too late in the autumn, was 

 fraught with hardships, and, as the snow already covered the moun- 

 tains, proA^ed fruitless. The following year, accompanied by his wife, 

 he spent three months on the heights. Having established his camp 

 at an elevation of 6,000 feet he went out twice a week in search of 

 bisons, guided hj the native Tcherkesses. He often came across fresh 

 traces of the animals, heard their trampling, saw trees that had been 

 recently stripped of their bark, but in spite of twenty-four successive 

 hunts he not onh^ did not succeed in killing one, he did not even see a 

 single one, so constantly watchful is this animal and so difficult to 

 approach, scenting man at a great distance. This should be noted 

 b}' those who deal with prehistoric times and seek to interpret the 

 meaning of the representations of the bison which are found at 

 Altamira. 



Littledale returned to the charge, accompanied this time by a 

 Lesghine b}^ the name of Laubazon, famous for his experience as a 

 poacher, and at the head of c^uite a squadron of mountain guides and 

 skillful hunters. One fine morning in the month of August Mr. 

 Littledale at length discovered a male bison and obtained a first 

 shot at a distance of 1)0 meters; the shot took etfect, but it was only 

 at the fifth ball that the animal was killed, and fell into the river. 

 Soon after Mr. Littledale killed a female. The skins of these two 

 fine animals were presented to the British Museum. Some weeks 

 after the hunter came across a male bison much larger and finer 

 than the first two, but spared him, not wishing to be accused of 

 contributing to the extinction of the race. The exploits of Mr. 

 Littledale proved the possibility of bison hunts for the European, 

 and were the occasion of measures being taken to protect the animal. 



To-day the Grand Duke Sergius Michailowitch (with his guests) 

 is the only one authorized to hunt the bison, but far from abusing his 

 right he carefully guards the increase of the species. It may be said, 

 too, that the first hunts of the Duke were equally unfruitful. In 

 1893 traces of the bison were found, and one bison was seen hidden 

 in the high grass, but the hunters did not succeed in killing him. 

 The following year the same Lesghine, Laubazon, started up two 

 more without being able to reach them. Finally, in 1895, two superb 

 bison were killed — a male by the Grand Duke and a female by 

 Colonel Schilder of his suite. The skins were offered to the zoolog- 

 ical museum of the Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburg. In the 



