CRASNOI LAIS. 31 



his hold on the slippery trunk, he came down on 

 his back with a crash that unluckily frightened our 

 game more than it hurt him. 



So ended our first night's sport ; but though 

 we bagged nothing, no real sportsman I think 

 would allow that a night spent amid such glorious 

 surroundings, listening to the voices of Nature in 

 one of her wildest moods, was a night wasted. At 

 any rate when we got home my rest was the 

 sweeter for my toil. 



The day following this eventful night was spent 

 hi preparations for the grand drive fixed for the 

 morrow ; but though there was much to be done, 

 our kind host arranged to give us some shooting 

 in the afternoon of this day also. Lunch over, 

 we took the hounds out dark brown dogs with 

 tan chests and points, looking as if they had a 

 large cross of the bloodhound. The modus ope- 

 randi of the day's sport was simple in the extreme. 

 The whole forest was divided into sections, each con- 

 taining one square verst. Round one of these the 

 guns were placed, and then the forester and his 

 dogs went into the thick of it, and in a few minutes 

 the woods were full of deep-toned music. The 

 dogs seemed to me to hunt everything they came 

 across, from a stag to a running cock pheasant, 

 and the business of the gunner was to kill and, if 

 possible, to bag the game before the dogs did. 

 There was a great deal of excitement, men shout- 



