170 BALAKLEYA 



not very far from Balakleya, may have prepared them to give 

 me an extra cordial welcome, which they certainly did. The 

 only thing I regret during my stay there, is the loss by 

 accident of a photographic negative of my hosts and myself 

 which they had taken with my camera. While developing it, 

 I unfortunately spoiled it. Photography resembles angling ; 

 because the best views, like the heaviest fish, are those that 

 escape capture. I was, however, fortunate in getting a 

 photograph of a group of some of my Balakleya friends (Fig. 

 41). I can easily understand that my visit was, as they told 

 me, a pleasing break in the monotony of the life they were 

 leading. Beyond eating, drinking, sleeping, playing vint and 

 billiards, smoking cigarettes, reading and talking, these 



o o o o ' 



officers have no distractions, under which heading their 

 military duty cannot be placed ; because they do not occupy 

 themselves practically with horses, and do all their duty on 

 foot. With complete absence of sport on horse or pony back, 

 extremely little with gun or rifle, no gymnasium, no racket 

 court, no cricket pitch, no football ground, not even a lawn- 

 tennis court or croquet lawn to amuse themselves with, it is 

 no wonder that these really nice young fellows seek oblivion, 

 not in drink, but in innocent sleep, after lunch till six or seven 

 in the evening. They are certainly the first inhabitants of a 

 cold or temperate climate that I have seen indulge in this 

 practice, which we all know is common in tropical and semi- 

 tropical countries. 



The majority of the officers' clubs at the brigades have 

 billiard tables, 11 feet long, 5^ feet broad, and provided with 

 six pockets as with us. As the pockets are 3 inches wide 

 and the balls 2.6 inches in diameter, it is easy to understand 

 that under these conditions, successful hazard striking is 

 extremely difficult. The Russian game is a kind of pyramids, 

 which was probably imported by Peter the Great from 

 Holland. The balls have different values, which are respect- 



