SPORT AND TRAVEL 97 



and intermediary between myself and the natives of 

 the country. A friend in Smyrna had telegraphed to 

 one of his correspondents in the town of Ouchak, to 

 have pack ponies sent down in charge ctf a responsible 

 man to meet me in Chivril. These had duly arrived 

 on the previous day, together with riding horses for 

 Theodore, Mustapha, and myself; but as the men in 

 charge of the horses had gone off to sleep in the 

 village near the station, and as the weather on 

 the following morning was bitterly cold, it was some 

 time before Mustapha could get them together, and 

 past eight o'clock when we finally got all the loads 

 packed, and at last made a start for the town of 

 Ouchak. 



As soon as we were clear of the straggling village 

 of Chivril, Theodore and I rode on ahead, accom- 

 panied by Mustapha and the Turk who had come 

 from Ouchak with the pack ponies, which latter (three 

 in number) came on more slowly behind, in charge of 

 two men on foot. Our route lay over a spur of the 

 hills to the right of Chivril and then across an open 

 treeless steppe. The early morning had been bright 

 though cold, but as we advanced great banks of cloud 

 blew across the sky, and the wind increased to a regu- 

 lar hurricane. The cold soon became intense ; and 

 although we walked and drove our riding ponies in 

 front of us, we found it impossible to keep warm. I 

 had left my gloves in one of the packs, and therefore 

 had to keep my hands buried under my coat, or in 



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