THE NEAR EAST 
assail one, as well as an uncertainty caused by the extremely quarrel- 
some character of the inhabitants. Mr Isidor Morse, who has visited 
this country twice, is of opinion that the winter offers the best chances to 
find game, it being then driven down and there being a comparatively small 
area to hunt. There are, however, some difficulties to be faced. Mr Morse 
tried in October, November and December, coming in from the north, 
and consequently had very difficult passes to tackle. Late winter or early 
spring should be tried, and an approach should be made from the south, 
for there is no very large extent of mountainous country between the 
game resorts and the Mesopotamian plains. 
The late Captain Bertram Dickson, who was British Consul at Van for 
some time, made many excursions in search of big game in the neigh- 
bourhood; in fact, what information I have gathered of these regions 
comes largely from this source. Being a keen hunter, Captain Dickson 
tried much new ground, and the extent of his wanderings covered the 
whole region between Bitlis, on the west of Lake Van, to the Zab River, 
left effluent of the Tigris. This area includes the big mountain masses of 
Sat Dagh (14,000 feet), Arnost Dagh (10,800 feet), Harakol Dagh (10,200 
feet), Ardost Dagh (10,300 feet). Thus it supplies a huge hunting ground, 
which is only able to be traversed during four months of the year. As a matter 
of fact, a small portion of this area would supply enough ground for a 
whole season’s hunting. The best sporting districts within reach of Van 
are the Chukh Dagh and Karahissar Dagh, two days to the east of that 
town, thence southwards to the big mass of mountains which culminate 
in Kokobuland and Sat Dagh. The region is one continuous mountain 
mass, emphasized here and there with higher outcrops. The game is 
distributed evenly over the whole area, and never numerous in any one 
particular place. Captain Dickson said in one of his letters that he had 
made journeys of ten days without seeing game and had to come home 
without firing a shot; on the other hand, on one trip he found five ibex 
on one ridge, shot one in the evening, and the next day got three more. 
Although they are never plentiful in any one place, there are plenty of 
places where one always finds a few. 
“ If you come out here expressly to shoot a lot of ibex I think you 
would be disappointed. But by going from place to place, stopping 
a day or two at each likely mountain, you will have a very interesting 
time and ought to get an ibex every third day, and perhaps, now and 
then, get two or three bunched in a corner and kill them all.” 
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