SPORT IN THE CRIMEA AND 

 THE CAUCASUS, 



CHAPTER I. 



SPORT IN THE CRIMEA. 



Outfit The droshky A merry party The Straits of Kertch 

 The steppe Wild-fowl Crops The Malos The ' Starrie Met- 

 chat ' Game Tscherkess greyhounds Stalking bustards A 

 picnic Night on the steppe. 



SCARCELY a week's journey from London, with de- 

 licious climates and any quantity of game, it always 

 seemed a marvel to me how few English sportsmen 

 ever found their way to the Crimea or Caucasus. It 

 is now something more than five years ago since I 

 first made myself acquainted with the breezy rose- 

 mary-clad steppes of the former, or the low wooded 

 hills on the Black Sea coast of the latter. For 

 nearly three years resident at Kertch, I had ample 

 opportunity of testing all the pleasures of the 

 steppe, and a better shooting-ground for the wild- 

 fowler or man who likes a lot of hard work, with 

 a plentiful and varied bag at the end of his day, 

 could nowhere be found. Of course the sportsman 



B 



