TIFLIS. 191 



my friend was, we prepared ourselves for any 

 emergency, by a liberal consumption of the inevit- 

 able tea and ' papiros ' (cigarette), and then drove to 

 an estate of Prince Mirsky's, where we passed the 

 night. In the morning we had a game drive, and 

 killed a few roe deer, of which, Tartar fashion, 

 these fellows eat the kidneys, still warm and raw, 

 as soon as the beast was killed. I had the good 

 fortune to kill a very large wolf as my own share 

 of the bag, and a very handsome fellow he appeared 

 when I first saw him, with his fore feet planted on 

 an old stump and his hackles all up, looking 

 savagely over his shoulder in the direction of the 

 yelping curs which had disturbed him. He seemed " 

 a good deal more inclined to fight than to run. I 

 thought. His coat was of that strange colour that 

 I have so often noticed in the hares of the Crimea 

 about the same time of year a silver grey, turning 

 at different points to what you might almost call 

 rose pink. 



Thanking my friends for the sport, and reflecting 

 that an utter stranger in England would be very 

 unlikely to meet with such random hospitality, I 

 resumed my journey to Tiflis next day. The 

 second half of the journey is far more interesting 

 than the first, and in places the scenery reminds 

 the traveller of Switzerland. The old town of 

 Suram is one of the most picturesque glimpses on 

 the way, a huge ruin of a rough kind of castle 



