THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE 393 



up a tree close by. Here patience comes in, and one may have to sit 



up for days without seeing any sign of a bear. In the 



Ural Mountains and Siberia bears are oenerallv trai:»ped ^ . 



'^ ^11 Baits. 



by the natives, and unusually large skins are sometimes 

 brought in by peasants. Naturally, where bears are to be found in 

 the open, the stalk or approach is commonly used. This mode may 

 be applied to the Polar bear, secured by every Arctic expedition.* A 

 well-nigh record skin of the Polar bear exists in the Emperor of 

 Russia's palace at Gatchina ; they run to enormous sizes, from forty 

 to fifty poods in weight (1,200 to 1,500 lbs.). 



In the Caucasus both the brown and mountain grey bear are com- 

 monly found above the timber-line in summer. f Here also the only 

 chance is to stalk them. In the Grand Duke Serge's 



preserves, in the Kouban district, they are considered as ^ 



^ ^ Caucasus. 



vermin, and on an average about eighty are shot by his 



hunters every year. I myself think this is rather a pity, for they 



afford excellent sport and a most exciting chase. 



The aurochs {^Bos ttriis), or European bison, known in Russia as 

 "zubr," is now confined to a relatively small area.| 

 This grand old patriarch, which formerly abounded in ^. 

 the forests all over Europe, is now on the verge of 

 extinction. Were it not for the carefully-preserved districts of the 

 Emperor's park of Bielovege, in Russian Poland, and of the Grand 

 Duke Serge's Kouban hunting grounds in the Caucasus, this ancient 



* See Badmmton Library. Article by Arnold Pike. 



t See Hunting Trips in the Caucasus, by Deimidoff Prince San Donato. 



X See Badminton Lib?-ary. Article by Si. George Littledale. 



