A RARE DUCK 5 



to me highly successful. He told me that there was 

 a particular duck which was supposed to breed on 

 the Mongolian plateaux, and which he was most 

 desirous to obtain ; he gave me a water-colour sketch 

 of it, asking me to try and secure a specimen for him. 

 I promised to do my best, but unluckily failed in 

 my attempts, though the Kalmuks to whom I showed 

 the drawing assured me that they had often seen the 

 species on the numerous lakes of the Kosh-Agatch 

 plain. I entrusted Dr. Newsky with the scientific 

 portion of our researches, intending to devote myself 

 entirely to chase of sheep and ibex. To my great 

 disappointment, however, he also was unprepared 

 for the task, and the small efforts made in that 

 direction resulted only in a collection of plants which 

 my wife made on our way from one camp to the 

 other, a list of which will be given later on. Cristo, 

 my valet, who accompanied me on this journey, 

 proved very useful in many ways. 



We started from St. Petersburg, my wife and I, 

 the Doctor and Cristo, on the 13th of May, reaching 

 Moscow the following morning, where we found 

 Joseph, the interpreter, awaiting us on the station 

 platform. Mr. and Mrs. Littledale had just arrived 

 at the Slaviansky Bazaar, and we lunched merrily 

 together, talking over our forthcoming trip. They 



