Hunting at High Altitudes 



out success, and it was not until we reached 

 Moscow that we engaged a man who had good 

 recommendations, but who was absolutely incom- 

 petent, besides being a liar and a thief. This is a 

 most difficult as well as the most important position 

 to fill, as few Englishmen speak Russian and fewer 

 still Turki, the language of the country. I think, 

 however, that anyone taking this trip would do 

 well to give up the idea of engaging a man who 

 could act both as interpreter and caravanbash or 

 caravan leader, contenting himself with an active 

 young man who could speak Russian and English. 

 Such a man could be gotten through any of the 

 American firms doing business in Russia. 



From Moscow the train runs daily to Tashkent, 

 making the trip in a leisurely manner in five days, 

 while once a week a wagon lit is put on. The first- 

 class cars are very comfortable. Tashkent, which 

 means "stone camp," is quite a large town, having 

 a population of 170,000, and is divided into the 

 old or native city and the new or Russian city. 

 The hotel is good, though expensive, and there are 

 good shops, where we bought some cocoa as well 

 as other supplies, which we could just as well have 

 gotten further on and so have saved much time and 

 trouble. 



We bought a tarantas for ourselves, as well as 

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