54 A SHOOTING TRIP TO KAMCHATKA 



and advised us to apply on our way to an old hunter 

 at Radde, a Russian settlement on the river. I wired 

 to him forthwith. To my inquiry as to stags in the 

 Khingan mountains, Lalitin, junior, informed me that 

 they were plentiful both on Russian and Chinese terri- 

 tory ; that tigers were not uncommon, and could be 

 tracked over fresh snow, and that there existed smaller 

 deer which were to be found on the steeper crags. 

 This I took to be a species of goral. He added that 

 stags were larger than cows, and carried "trees" on 

 their heads, and gave me a decidedly favourable and 

 graphic description of the size of their antlers. W^ith 

 regard to wild sheep he knew nothing. 



The hotel where we had ordered dinner was kept 

 by a Frenchman. The rooms were clean and airy, 

 presenting a strong contrast with that of Irkutsk. The 

 bill of fare was most attractive, and equal to our ex- 

 pectations. During the repast a telephone message 

 came informing us that the SuiiQari had arrived, and 

 our companions presently joined us. One of them had 

 shot a roedeer from board ship while the animal was 

 crossing the river, and they had managed to secure 

 it — a welcome addition to the larder. Littledale and 

 I hurried to settle our departure with the captain, a 

 Swede by birth, who agreed to take us on to Khaba- 

 rovsk for the sum of 500 roubles (^^50), and promised 



