30 BIG GAME SHOOTING 



An interpreter can be hired at I'iflis or Kutais, but he will 

 be more trouble than a valet and more fastidious, besides 

 doubling the expense of the expedition and causing constant 

 trouble with your men. There may, of course, be good inter- 

 preters ; if so, I have been unfortunate in never meeting any. 

 My last word of advice shall be, try to do without them, pick 

 up a little Russian for yourself, and then trust to luck and 

 good temper to pull you through.^ 



II. NORTH-WEST CAUCASUS. 



The Caucasus includes not only the great range which 

 gives its name to the isthmus, but also a district as large as 

 France, bounded on the north by Russia, on the east by the 

 Caspian, on the south by Armenia and Persia, and on the west 

 by the Black Sea and the Azov. 



In any similar area you would expect to find districts varying 

 considerably in their fauna, but in the Caucasus the districts 

 to the north and south of the chain vary to such an extent, that 

 the naturalist Eichwald speaks of the ' tall peaks of Caucasus,' 

 as putting the most distinct limits to the fauna of Asia and 

 Europe. 



The northern side of the chain, from what is called the 

 Manitch depression to the foot-hills of the main chain, is 

 simply a continuation of the steppes of Russia, a land without 

 trees, and, until you get near the foot-hills, devoid of all game 

 except feathered game and wolves. 



To the north-west of the mountains, the great game district 

 is that which lies along the banks of the Kuban, a river rising 

 in the main chain near Elbruz, and flowing thence due north 

 for a space, after which it turns sharply westward, and flows 

 parallel to the main chain, finally emptying itself into the Black 



1 To deal exhaustively with all subjects connected with mountain hunting, 

 in the Caucasus or elsewhere, would be to repeat much which has already 

 been written by experts in the Mountaineering volume of this series. Rather 

 than do this, I strongly recommend anyone who meditates a hunt in Alpine 

 regions to procure that volume and read it carefully. — C. P.-W. 



