62 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Aug. 16 1S80. 



SHOOTING ON MOUNT OLYMPUS.-1I. 



(Gmtinued from Page .:!.) 



I LAY awake a while meditating on my fortunate shot 

 and on the prospects of bringing bruin to final ac- 

 count in the morning, but soon a black pall clouded my 

 vision, and weary with the day's march I slept the sleep 

 of the just. I had taken only a short nap, at least so it 

 seemed to me, when I felt the chill night air creeping 

 into my bones, and rousing myself to wrap the covering 

 closer around me, I caught the sound of voices with the 

 morning freshness about them, and springing up in bed I 

 saw the first faint roseate hues of dawn in the eastern 

 sky through the open portals of the serai. The voices 

 were on the other side of the yard, and going to the door 

 I saw that Timayanes was already astir and kindling a 

 fire on the outdoor hearth. Half a dozen powerful dogs, 

 apparently half-bred greyhounds, contrasting strongly 

 with the street dogs of the East, were prowling about the 

 yard, and one of them sighting me, set up a deep bay. 

 He was promptly called to order by Ahmed Khan, who 

 was one of the speakers I had beard, and at that moment 

 the arrival of another party with half a dozen dogs, di- 

 verted attention of iner and dogs alike from me. 



The business of the toilet did not occupy me more than 

 ten minutes, but in that short interval day had broken, 

 and a perfect Babel of voices in salutation or conversa- 

 tion, mingled with the occasional growling of dogs and 

 the reproofs of their keepers. Alvmed Khan presented 

 me to the assembled village head men, and this ceremony 

 performed, every one sat clown to a hasty meal, which 

 consisted principally of bread and dates and sparkling 

 spring water., but Timayanes, knowing my weakness, 

 had prepared a savory omelette for me. This was soon 

 disposed of, and long before the sun had risen above the 

 horizon, the order of procedure bad been decided on, 

 although not without some excited discussion, and by 

 means of Timayanes I understood that I was to take up 

 my first position about 500 yards down the southern slope 

 of the mountain, and that the beaters would drive the 

 game toward me, or rather toward a line of marksmen of 

 whom I would be one. 



They had certainly allotted me a promising 6pot. It 

 was on a spur of the mountain forming a sharp bend in 

 the bubbling brook which washed its base. There was a 

 huge granite boulder near the point of the spur, and right 

 in front of it a large cedar tree, which apparently had 

 prevented its rolling into the brook. Behind me the 

 mountain rose several hundred feet, densely covered with 

 dark cedar and fir trees on ridge and slopes, while in 

 front of me, across the stream, was a considerable fringe 

 of open grass, and. between it and the forest on the op- 

 posite slope was a clearing nearly a hundred yards wide, 

 on which the wild box nad recently been cut out for 

 market, and as I learned afterward the exploitation of 

 this timber for engraving purposes is the principal source 

 of livelihood of these mountain villagers. There were 

 two or three marksmen between me and the village, but 

 not in a direct line nor in sight, and as soon as I was left 

 to myself I lighted my pipe, knowing that it must be at 

 least a quarter of an hour before the beating would begin, 

 and as I puffed leisurely away, with, my Winchester and 

 the smoothbore loaded with ball at hand, the first wel- 

 come but distant bay of one of the hounds broke on my 

 ear. Now another and another took up the strain, and 

 grasping my Winchester I stood against the cedar in 

 eager expectation. 



At first the sounds drew nearer and nearer, but very 

 soon it was evident that the dogs were not coming my 

 way, and laying down the weapon I sought a more" easy 

 posture. 



As I seated myself commanding a view of the stream 

 downward for a hundred yards or so before it was lost in 

 a bend of the hill, there stood facing and watching me a 

 large buck deer with a grand pair of branching horns. 

 He was on my side of the brook, about sixty yards from 

 me, and had evidently come down to drink without ob- 

 serving me, and as I was to leeward of him he could not 

 have scented my tobacco. 



He must have raised his head from the water at the 

 sound of my changing posture, for, as I looked, the water 

 dripped from his mouth. We eyed each other for an in- 

 stant, then my hand stole round toward my smoothbore, 

 but ere I could, grasp it there was a wild plunge through 

 the forest, and springing to my feet I brought the gun 

 round to bear in the direction of the sound, but the deer 

 was gone. Those who have been there can imagine how 

 fit I was to kick myself. 



Soon the baying of the hounds was beard again, and, 

 although at a great distance, it appeared evident that 

 they were coming in my direction. I heard a shot which 

 sounded at least half a mile off, and a minute later a 

 second somewhat nearer. The game was evidently being- 

 beaten up along the line. 



Standing motionless against the cedars, the smooth- 

 bore grasped in both hands. I stood prepared for action 

 when the opportunity arrived, but, impelled by some in- 

 stinct, I turned my eye across the brook to the left, and 

 there, just emerged from the forest, and listening to the 

 distant baying of the hounds, stood a grizzly wolf. Oh, 

 that I had the Winchester in my hand, or that I could 

 exchange without attracting his notice! 



At that moment there was another shot; the dogs 

 bayed in chorus evidently nearing us, and while this was 

 in progress I noiselessly changed weapons, and drew a 

 bead upon the wolf. At that instant he sighted me, but 

 before he could move I had him between my sights, and 

 drawing trigger, I saw him drop on his haunches, and 

 heard the angry yelp telling that the ball had struck 

 home. 



From the moment the last shot had been fired down 

 the line, the baying of the dogs announced that they 

 were closing in on their wounded quarry, which I con- 

 cluded was a bear or a boar, but which afterward proved 

 to be an old wolf. Another shot was fired, which ap- 

 peared to have given the quarry his quietus, for the bay- 

 ing of the dogs ceased, and distant voices were heard 

 distinctly. 



Presently from the opposite forest came the low sharp 

 yelp of a dog on trail, and at the same moment a pair of 

 pheasants, started by the dogs, came flying toward me, 

 and I heard, but did not see them, alight in a tree im- 

 mediately behind me. 



The pack took up the cry and the dogs were soon 

 giving tongue in lively chorus: a shot rang out some 

 200yds. below me, and 'still the dogs came yelping on. 

 Presently a black object came out of the forest and 

 plunged into the grass on the other side of the creek, 

 making almost straight for me. 



The dogs came baying on some 50yds. behind, and as 

 the quarry approached I made him out to be a boar, and 

 seeing that he would certainly pass me at close quarters 

 I noiselessly exchanged my Winchester for the smooth- 

 bore. By this time he was about 80yds. from me and 

 shaping to cross right in front of me, aud being sure of 

 my shot, even if he now should swerve, I stood motion- 

 less, letting him pass me at about 30yds., when I pulled 

 trigger, and the ball going clean through both shoulders 

 he fell heavily forward and the dogs were soon in upon 

 bim. 



The first beat was over. The whole party of hunts- 

 men and beaters were advancing on the scene of my last 

 exploit. The dogs were driven off the now dead boar 

 and my nearest neighbor claimed the quarry, or rather 

 the score, on the plea of first hit, which he made good, 

 his ball having lodged in the boar's haunch; the quarry 

 itself was not much in demand among Mussulmen for 

 their own pot, and Timayanes, who soon arrived upon the 

 scene, looked perhaps more regretfully upon the sturdy 

 hams than I, but he had been too well brought up and I 

 too well instructed for either of us to claim a portion of 

 the unhallowed food. The wolf skin was mine by indis- 

 putable law of the chase, and as the whole parly came 

 together it transpired that another wolf, a two-year-old 

 buck deer, a doe and the boar constituted the bag of the 

 first beat. 



The sun was now more than an hour high, and no time 

 was lost in arranging the second beat, which was a fur- 

 ther advance on the previous lines. Beaters and dogs 

 were detached to take up their positions along the line, 

 and the marksmen started to cross the beat. My own 

 course was round the base of the hill on a spur of which 

 I had been stationed. 1 crossed the brook in front of me, 

 and again, at 200yds. distant, and plodded westward 

 through the forest for more than a mile, uphill and 

 down, crossing three ravines and taking up my position 

 on the slope, about a hundred yards above the bed of a 

 ravine through which a tiuy stream trickled. The tim- 

 ber was open, consisting of oak and box and chestnut and 

 some other trees with which I was unacquainted. 



Seated on a ledge of rock I commanded a good view of 

 the slope below me, and of that across the ravine,*and 

 lighting my pipe I began to amuse myself judging dis- 

 tances, but had scarcely entered on the task before the 

 distant hum of voices informed me that the beating had 

 commenced. 



Presently a doe and fawn came trotting up across the 

 ravine, and paused to listen just opposite to me. I drew 

 a bead on the dam with my Winchester, but not with any 

 intention of firing, and while so engaged a whiff of my 

 pipe must have reached her, for starting suddenly, she 

 wheeled around, caught sight of me and plunged up 

 the ravine, followed by her fawn. A few minutes later a 

 hare came climbing up the slope and had reached within 

 5yds. of me before she wheeled suddenly and plunged 

 down the slope. Again a fox ran along the slope toward 

 me and when about 50yds. off, turned round to listen, 

 offering a fine broadside shot. I was unwilling to fire 

 lest I should disturb bigger game, and the next moment 

 he turned, sighted me, vanished behind a tree, and I saw 

 him no more. 



The dogs now began to give tongue, and very soon the 

 whole pack was heard in full cry all along the line. A 

 stag came plunging over the crest of the opposite hill 

 and paused to listen, tm ning almost broadside on to me. 

 He was about 250^ ds. off , as nearly as I could judge, and 

 resting my elbow on my knee, 1 prepai-ed for a steady 

 shot. Before I could get him into line he wheeled toward 

 me and trotted down the hill. This was bringing him 

 nearer, and I reserved my fire until he reached the bed 

 of the ravine, where for a moment I lost sight of him. 



He soon reappeared, going up the slope at about 150yds. 

 distant, and increasing his distance at every stride," but 

 as I brought my Winchester lo bear he glided partly be- 

 hind a tree. My finger was already on the trigger, the 

 shot rung out, and I heard the beast galloping away, and 

 caught transient glimpses of him between the trees, but 

 could not get another sight of him that gave any chance 

 for a shot. 



All this time the dogs were coming on in full chorus, 

 and now shots were heard in rapid succession along the 

 line. A wild sow and litter of eight or ten young ones 

 crossed my station at about 70 or 80yds., grunting as they 

 went, and I raised my gun to fire, but at that moment 

 the yelp of an injured dog convinced me that there was 

 nobler quarry afoot, and I reserved my lire, giving all 

 my attention to the baying of the dogs which were held 

 at bay by some animal about 200yds. to my right. 



A shot rang out from the nearest station below me, 

 and the quarry now made straight for me, the dogs clos- 

 ing in and making life miserable for him at every step. 

 At length he came into view, a big brown bear, close 

 pressed by the dogs, aud seeing that progress was slow 

 and that the villager of the nearest station, having re- 

 loaded, was hastening to take part in the fray, I felt like 

 having a hand in too, and r.iade good time getting over 

 the intervening space. As I came up the turbaned son 

 of the Prophet gave the bear a shot at close quarters, 

 and while he was reloading I endeavored to improve 

 upon his performance, but the way the dogs were dancing- 

 round bim and getting on behind made it difficult. I got 

 my opportunity at length, striking him in the neck and 

 bringing him down, which was the signal for half a 

 dozen dogs to close in and seize him at once, but rolling 

 over he got one of the dogs under him, and was just get- 

 ting a grip on his hindquarters when the villager and I 

 both took him in the h* ad at close quarters, and settled 

 him, the dog escaping unhurt. The hunters and beaters 

 soon assembled as at the close of the previous beat, and 

 after a very wordy discussion I learned that there were 

 two claimants for the bear's skin, both of whom had fired 

 before we who gave him his quietus came on the scene, 

 and I participated keenly in the investigation, hoping, 

 as was suggested by Ahmed Kahn, that it would prove to 

 be my bear of the previous evening. We found no indi- 

 cations, however. 



Besides the bear, two wolves, a buck, three does and a 

 fox had been shot by the villagers, and Timayanes com- 

 ing on the scene I was asked what I had fired at. I re- 

 ported the wolf and buck, and all hands starting to in- 



vestigate, I pointed out the spot as nearly as I could 

 recollect where the buck stood when I fired. One of the 

 marksmen sighted the track of my bullet through the 

 outer bark of the tree the deer had passed behind; in an- 

 other moment the dogs were following on the deer's 

 tracks, and to my surprise and delight came upon him 

 dead about 120 yards from where the ball ha<i struck 

 him. The Mussulmen were not as happy when they 

 found that he was already dead, but an old beater cut 

 his throat and murmured a prayer over him that made 

 the fle^h good enough for the less scrupulous of the vil- 

 lagers. 



Returning to the spot where the ball grazed the tree 

 they stopped, pointed out my station, aud evidently dis- 

 cussed the distance, which appeared to sustain my repu- 

 tation in their estimation. 



Although the sun was now high in the heavens, it was 

 decided to have another beat before noon. Some of the 

 beaters were detailed to gather up the game and carry it 

 to camp, with instructions where to find us for the mid- 

 day siesta. 



The next drive was a great success; it covered a great 

 deal of ground and occupied until high noon. Another 

 bear was killed, together with five wolves, three boars, or 

 rather two boars and a sow, three deer, two of which 

 were females, the other a young stag, and a hare. My 

 own share of this bag was two wolves and a hare, all of 

 which fell to my Winchester. 



This over we collected by the bank of a stream under 

 the shade of a clump of three grand old oaks, and partook 

 of a light meal, followed by a siesta for me and the head- 

 men. Meanwhile some of the beaters were collecting the 

 game, one of the pigs being allotted to the dogs, which 

 soon disposed of him. 



It was well on toward 3 o'clock before all had re- 

 assembled, and by the time they had eaten and rested it 

 w as nearly 4 o'clock ; but it was only intended to have 

 one more beat, and this being backward and nearly par- 

 allel to the ground beaten in the morning, was designed 

 to bring us out above the village. 



The marksmen having had their direction and goals in- 

 dicated, it was explained to me that as soon as the Jogs 

 and beaters should be spread out in line the drive would 

 commence, and that the marksmen would walk steadily 

 on keeping their eyes open all around them, and not take 

 up position unless some animal should come in sight, or 

 the hounds come baying in that direction. 



Timayanes accompanied me, and our course lay up a 

 steep gully, at the head of which we had to pursue a zig- 

 zag course to climb to the crest of the hill Long before 

 we reached it we heard the distant baying of the dogs, 

 far away below and to our left, but we pressed steadily 

 on, sighting nothing but the solitary marksman about 

 200yds. distant on our left, by whom I endeavored to 

 regulate our course. We paused a while on the brow of 

 the hill, and while resting heard a shot far away on our 

 left, but as all was again silent we pursued our course 

 around the near brow of thejnountain. 



We must have walked at least two miles without see- 

 ing any thing, when a shot rang out to our left over the 

 crest of the hill and we paused to listen. All was still 

 around us and we had just started, afresh, when I heard 

 some animal plunging through the forest above us and 

 had scarcely brought my Winchester into position before 

 a buck burst upon me through some undergrowth at a bout 

 20yds. distance. I fired as he caught sight of me and 

 swerved, got in a second shot at his haunch as he gal- 

 loped back the way 1 had come, and a third, a good 

 broadside, as he reached the crest of the hill again at 

 about 100yds. off. 



Tbis last shot hit him, I knew, for I heard the unmis- 

 takable thud of a ball striking living tiesh, but before I 

 could cross the crest of the hill I heard another shot, fol- 

 lowed shortly by the shouting of my neighbor, who had 

 dropped the wounded animal, and was now standing 

 over him with his long knife dropping blood. 



My ball had struck the beast behind the shoulder, 

 rather too high to be immediately fatal, and after a care- 

 ful examination it was evident that the villager's first 

 shot had been a miss and that the buck was mine, or at 

 least the kudos, and the extra portion allotted to first shot. 



We sat down to rest here and I lighted my pipe, and 

 very shortly we heard the baying of dogs again. The 

 sounds grew nearer, and presently it was evident that the 

 whole pack was coming our way. 



Nearer and nearer came the music; Timayanes con- 

 cealed himself, and the villager and I took up positions 

 at about 100yds. apart, straining our eyes to get the first 

 glimpse of the hunted quarry. 



Now, along with the baying of the dogs, we heard the 

 rush of what appeared to be a whole troop of wild 

 animals tearing through the underbrush and scattering 

 the stones with their hoofs. 



The course was up the ravine we had ourselves climbed, 

 but from the head of the ravine it swerved to our rear, 

 and as they mounted the hill we obtained glimpses of a 

 sounder of wild boar with the hounds in close pursuit. 

 They were too far off and showed too indistinctly for a 

 shot, but soon we heard music, which announced that 

 the foremost dogliad seized the hindmost boar, and that 

 he held on to him until the pack closed in and tore him 

 to pieces, the occasional yelping and savage growling of 

 the dogs evidencing that the boar died fighting, suc- 

 cumbing only to superior numbers. 



Meantime the herd had got away, and the dogs having 

 finished their meal took up the trail again in full cry 

 until the music died away in the distance in our rear. 



The drive was over and the sun already low, and we 

 were still some four or five miles from the village. He 

 who had laid my deer low for me opened up communica- 

 tion with his next neighbor, who proved to be Ahmed 

 Khan, and it was arranged that they should stand by the 

 deer, waiting the advent of the beaters, while Timayanes 

 and I pursued our way homeward. 



But the day's sport was not yet over for me. We had 

 trudged on hopeless of seeing anything, until at length we 

 gained the brow of a hill from which we could look down 

 over the village, nearly a thousand feet below. Our 

 course had been too much to the left, and the country 

 between us and the village was all cleared land, while 

 above us rose a belt of fqrest, behind which the distant 

 snowy peaks shone roseate in the setting sun. 



Immediately in front of us was a buckwheat field with 

 a brush fence, and as it was nearer to go through than 

 around it, we looked for an ea>y place to get over the 

 fence. Timayanes took the lead", but no sooner had he 

 mounted the fence than he sprang back and motioned to 



