1 78 A SHOOTING TRIP TO KAMCHATKA 



less, we were at places brought to a standstill on 

 account of the dense brushwood, which grew in zones, 

 like walls across the valley. Underneath the bushes 

 we could distinctly trace the long- corridors which 

 had been made by bears for their own traffic, but 

 which were of no use to our ponies. We were 

 obliged to surmount these obstacles by cutting our 

 way through with the axe, which was freely used 

 during this eventful but necessarily slow march. 

 Fortunately open stretches were more frequent, and 

 towards five p.m. we found ourselves at the junction 

 of three fine valleys, beyond which further advance 

 with pack-horses was impossible, for the steep slopes 

 on every side were covered with thick alders and low- 

 creeping cedars, affording no safe foothold even to 

 men. 



Camp was pitched in a birch grove by the side of 

 the main stream at an altitude of 1,500 feet; it was 

 the very spot where our aged hunter used to leave his 

 sledge-dogs, and from whence he was wont to start on 

 the war-trail. From here we could distinctly perceive 

 part of our future hunting-ground, and several large 

 snowy corries at the foot of rocky peaks. Raising 

 its cone above the rest, stood, a few miles oft, the 

 Kamchatskaia Vershina, like a lone sentry posted to 

 warn off intruders. 



