SPORT IN THE CRIMEA. 



undulating flight skim round the corner of the 

 next hill. You get one long shot and bag your 

 bird perhaps. The dog moves uncertainly forward, 

 and then stands again. Go up to him ; wherever 

 strepita (lesser bustard) have been you are sure to 

 find a hare or two close by. Time after time have 

 I found this, although I cannot account for the 

 fact in any way. The hares here are larger than 

 our English hares, and in winter turn almost 

 white, the skins in autumn having sometimes 

 most beautiful shades of silver and rose upon 

 them. The largest hare I ever remember to have 

 seen weighed nearly thirteen pounds it was an 

 old buck while in England a hare of eight 

 pounds is exceptionally large. 



The dogs used in the Crimea for coursing are 

 called Tscherkess greyhounds ; they stand con- 

 siderably higher at the shoulder than our own 

 dogs, are broken-haired, with a much longer coat 

 than our staghound, and a feathered stern. I am 

 told that on the flat the English greyhound beats 

 them for a short distance ; but that in the hills, 

 or with a strong old hare well on her legs before 

 them, the Crimean dogs have it all their own 

 way. I never had the good fortune to see the 

 two breeds tried together. In fact, what cours- 

 ing I did see was utterly spoilt by the Russian 

 habit of cutting off the hare, and shooting her 

 under the dog's nose. This is, of course, utterly 



