4 3 ODESSA AND MISKITCHEE. 



for the most part covered with the high reed 

 called here ' kamish,' and on the mud banks round 

 its edges and in the little lagoons within the reeds 

 myriads of wild-fowl play by day, and chatter 

 and feed all night. Here have I had many a 

 good day's wild-fowling, passed many a merry 

 night, and had at least one adventure, which, as 

 far as I remember, was somewhat in this wise : 

 I had been staying at the house of the chief 

 farmer in the village, a Greek or Armenian I 

 forget which for some few days, on a shooting 

 expedition. One morning, about six o'clock, I 

 was tramping over some damp steppeland, where 

 pools were frequent, and snipe should have been 

 more so, but were not. After an hour spent in 

 looking for something to shoot, I had almost 

 resolved to be off again to my favourite lake, when 

 I heard a voice calling to me in Russian. Looking 

 up I saw a Tartar, rather a smart one too, in a 

 fawn-coloured robe and the inevitable sheepskin 

 hat, standing upright in a big flat cart, with a 

 troika of capital horses before him. On coming 

 closer I found he was inviting me to take a seat in 

 his cart, assuring me that he, too, was a sports- 

 man, and had to drive over a part of the steppe 

 that morning where game abounded. Having 

 no gun with him, he would show me where sport 

 might be had if I liked. However, roubles in 

 those days were rare with me, and I feared that 



