vi PREFACE 



and ibex, perhaps stags. Alaska seemed attractive 

 with its wild sheep, mountain goats, and large moose. 

 Kamchatka ? with its Ovi's nivicola, caribou, and 

 huge bears." 



In this manner we debated till a final decision was 

 made in favour of Kamchatka,* a land in which 

 personally I was particularly interested, and having 

 alreadv brouoht out two volumes on Bio" Game 

 Shooting on the confines of the Russian Empire, 

 embracing the Caucasus and the Altai, I was 

 ambitious to complete the trilogy with an account of 

 huntinor in the Far East. 



The lofty volcanic peaks and snow-clad mountain 

 ranges of that distant peninsula, besides bearing the 

 prestige of the "unknown," specially attracted my 

 attention both by their natural treasures of northern 

 scenery and by the probabilities of coming across 

 game unmolested as yet by half-wild natives. As 

 will be seen later, I was partly mistaken in this 



* I feel obliged to draw the reader's attention to tlie true spelling 

 and pronunciation of the name " Kamchatka," which so many English- 

 men invariably spell " Kamschatka," and pronounce as if there was a 

 third "k" in the middle of the word, after the " s." The name is 

 probably deri\ed from the Russian word " Kamchaty," which means 

 " unexen or rough," with regard to the surface of the ground. It is a 

 term which the Russians (or rather Cossacks) who discovered the 

 country used when referring to tlie peninsula. It must be borne in 

 mind that these adventurers came through the Siberian steppes, and 



