A shooting trip to Kamchatka . saying he knew of apath through the woods where pack-ponies couldeasily pass. Starting late in the morning down themain valley and branching away from the watershedof the Kamchatka River, we proceeded southwardsand crossed the Bystraia, which at that place was buta small stream. The path, if the hardly discernibletrack we followed may be so called, led us throughdense jungle and creeping cedars, over which ourhorses kept stumbling. A fifteen-mile march took usin this way to the entrance of a valley running downfrom the same Ganal rano^e, though the stream whichfl
A shooting trip to Kamchatka . saying he knew of apath through the woods where pack-ponies couldeasily pass. Starting late in the morning down themain valley and branching away from the watershedof the Kamchatka River, we proceeded southwardsand crossed the Bystraia, which at that place was buta small stream. The path, if the hardly discernibletrack we followed may be so called, led us throughdense jungle and creeping cedars, over which ourhorses kept stumbling. A fifteen-mile march took usin this way to the entrance of a valley running downfrom the same Ganal rano^e, though the stream whichflowed in it belonged to the Bystraia. Tents werepitched by the side of the torrent, and friendly smokesoon protected us from the midges. Next morning I was on the move before dawn,and started, under the guidance of our aged cicerone,accompanied by the General and Silly; as therewas not supposed to be ground enough for two guns,Littledale insisted on giving me the preference, andremained himself in camp. We rode at first through. THE HEAD OF THE VALLEY 215 the birch forest and occasional swamps, where theadvance was slow ; on reaching the zone of shrubI could see several miles in front the head of thevalley, crowned with rows of pinnacles similar tothose I had negotiated round the KamchatskaiaVershina, and having gone some distance up theriver-bed, dismounted after a couple of hours sky was cloudless, and promised a scorchinghot day. We followed up the long, precipitous snow-slides, which filled the bottom of the gullies, untileight , when we came across fresh tracks of the ascent, we finally alighted on therough summit of a ridge running eastwards, at an eleva-tion of 5,200 feet, and settled down with our glassesto spy. But there was no sign of game, save a young-ram lying on the summit of one of the pursued our weary course in his direction, in thehope of finding others in his company, over almostperpendicular slopes of loose shingle, whic
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookidshootingtrip, bookyear1904
