THE CAUCASUS 
T HE Caucasus as a hunting ground has not been so often tried 
by big game sportsmen as it deserves to be, for it contains 
several splendid trophy -bearing animals, two at least of which, 
the Capra caucasica and the Capra cylindricornis , are not to be met 
with in any other part of the world. True it is, that outside 
the few big preserves game is nowhere very plentiful, but still 
there is enough to satisfy the man who is contented with a few fine and 
comparatively rare trophies, and who does not mind working hard for 
them, in a good climate, amidst glorious scenery. 
The sportsman who aspires to success in any form of mountain shooting 
must make up his mind to “scorn delights and live laborious days”; 
and it is some sort of compensation in after years, when he looks at the 
heads that adorn his walls, to find that he values most those that have 
given him the greatest labour to secure. 
It is seldom that two men can hunt successfully from the same camp in 
a mountain country; owing to the configuration of the ground there are 
not often more than two beats, and if these are both occupied every day 
the game will soon be driven out of the valley altogether; added to which 
there is always the chance that a shot fired by one man may spoil his 
friend’s stalk, as the echo from the sides of the valley will penetrate a 
long way. Moreover, as the ground never gets a rest, it is soon shot out 
and constant changes of camp are necessary — a laborious operation in a 
country like the Caucasus. Should two friends wish to go out to the country 
together they should make up their minds to separate when they get to 
the shooting ground. In a comparatively flat country like Africa, where 
one can shoot in almost any direction, and game is more plentiful, it does 
not so much matter, but in the hills the sportsman should make up his 
mind to camp alone. 
One of the great difficulties to be encountered in hunting in a foreign 
country is the language, and in Russia it is no easy matter to find an 
interpreter who is any use at all when transferred from a town to camp 
life. I have tried many of them in my time, none of them really good; 
but on my last four expeditions into the Caucasus I have taken with me 
one Gregory Makandaroff, who resides at Batoum, and who has proved 
himself much the best of several that I have sampled. He can generally 
be found with the assistance of the English Consul at Batoum. 
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