THE NEAR EAST 
For the rest, the big red deer (Cervus elephas moral), the maral of Asia 
Minor, demands very attentive work in order to bring home a good head. 
Here lies a new field, for they have only been hunted by Europeans in a 
few localities; there is much new ground to try, especially in the far north- 
eastern corner. Wild boar are found nearly everywhere and attain a very 
large size in the big oak and chestnut forests of the Black Sea littoral. 
The fallow deer and the roe exist, but are rarities, while bear are found in 
every suitable locality. 
There are several ways of entering Asia Minor. From the west Smyrna 
would in most cases be the point of entry, for it is situated in a position 
that allows the traveller a choice of routes. Should the hunter already 
have determined on a journey to the eastern districts he will probably 
go direct, via Constantinople, by rail to Angora, or to the head of the 
so-called Baghdad Railway at Eregli. Thence he can set out eastwards by 
caravan. He might also land at Trebizond on the Black Sea and go south 
by road. He can also land at Mersina in the Levant and move northwards 
along the Taurus and Anti -Taurus, or go westwards into Anatolia. A 
precise knowledge of the actual hunting grounds, as well as his desires in 
the way of trophies, would decide his route. 
From Smyrna, by using the two railways that branch from that 
delightful town into the still more delightful interior, the hunter may reach 
in easy time the abodes of red deer, ibex and mouflon. This route leads 
to the nearest haunts of the wild goat, for it is a fact that Mr E. N. Buxton 
reached the Maimun Dagh in a week from London. This is an isolated 
sandstone range, close under which the railway leading through Aidin to 
Ghivril passes, and although scarcely to be recommended, since there 
is so much better country further east, a description of its conditions are 
typical of the smaller, isolated ranges of Anatolia. There are many of these 
uplifts, rising suddenly to a few thousand feet above the surrounding 
country, and on nearly all of them wild game is to be found. In the case 
of the Maimun Dagh, the excessive roughness of the formation, and the 
peculiar nature of the country renders it a most favourable refuge for the 
wild goats. Here they seem to have successfully survived much hard hunt- 
ing for many generations. The natives drive them — a lazy, unsuccessful 
method, for they seldom succeed in doing more than killing females 
and young bucks. This has also resulted in making the old males 
more wary than usual. The Maimun Dagh is the most accessible haunt 
of the ibex, being close to the station of Char dak, a day’s journey from 
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