ODESSA AND MISKITCHEE. 41 



CHAPTER III. 



ODESSA AND MISKITCHEE. 



Mountaineers and Shikarees Outfit Journey from London to Odessa 

 Snipe-shooting on the Dnieper A drunken yemstchik A 

 collision Prince Vorontzoff Aloupka Yalta Livadia and 

 Orianda Miskitchee lake A Tartar butcher Native hovels A 

 shooting party on the lake A dreary bivouac. 



IT was not until the August of 1878, three years 

 after the events recorded in my last chapter, that 

 a passage in a recently published book on the Cau- 

 casus drew my attention again to my old hunting 

 grounds. It was Mr. Freshfield in this work (' The 

 Frosty Caucasus ') who wrote that in all his travels 

 in the Caucasian mountains he had seen little more 

 game than a couple of tame bears in a Tscherkess 

 village. 



This struck me as strange, and as I was at that 

 time meditating a sporting tour in some as yet un- 

 chosen locality, I decided to go to the Caucasus for 

 myself, and test its capacities to the utmost of my 

 ability as hunting ground for large game. Since 

 my return from Asia I have seen Devouasseux, Mr. 

 Freshfield's guide, who tells me that the author 

 was too intent on his favourite pursuit of mountain- 



