Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1865-06-29
M ce III q NJ .
An Adventure.

Il was the first week in October, 1854.
The weather was delightfully."- warm dur
ing the day, but cool at night, and there
fell occasionally slight shower which
served TO tighten our tent ropes and
stretch the canvass. sometimes, indeed.
to an inconvenient degree But still on
the whole the weather was delightful
Part of the allied army had gone up to
the front. as it was then beginning to be
called. and had occupied the plateau
overlooking the great town, soon to be-
come the theatre Of wars most horrible
events Being off duty one day, shoot
ing excursion was arranged, and | start
ed with friend to enjoy some recreation,
and with the hope of breaking the mon
otony Of salt meat dinners.
The shore Of the Black Sea, in the
immediate neighborhood of BaIak klava,
particularly to the east, is very precip-
itous. and rises to the height Of 500 or
1900 feet. On the west, the land is
even higher; bat there is a space be-
tween Cape Ala and Balaklava which
seems to have been produced by land
slip. The cliff has apparently slid
down into the sea, and left some thous-
and acres of land sloping gradually, but
in extreme irregularity, down to the
waters edge This land is covered with
trees and shrubs, intersected with ra-
vines, and altogether is very beautiful
spot. exceedingly picturesque and not al
together unromantic. 1t was over this
piece of land that we intended to shoot,
having heard from the inhabitants Of
Balaklava that game was to be found
there There was a difficulty, however,
in reaching the place, for the heights
Immediately behind the town were guard
ed by some of our people, and it was per-
mitted to no one to pass certain line,
beyond which, in fact, our shooting
ground extended We therefore char
tered Maltese boat to get to it by sea.
All things being ready we rowed out
Of the harbor, turned to the left, and
made for an eligible landing place We
had been warned that there was danger
in the enterprise, for small parties of
Cossacks and of Russian infantry had
been seen from the heights in the neigh
borhood but we had made up our minds
for days enterprise, and we felt we
could trust to our legs if it really became
necessary to run for it; besides, we could
always keep near our boat. and in fact,
we imagined, as is usually the case, that
the danger in question had been greatly
exaggerated However, we landed and
arranged our plans for the day, taking
care to warn the boatmen to keep good
look out. and to whistle in peculiar way
if they could see anything like strangers
approaching, At the entreaty of the
boatmen, we had disembarked in a small
creek. beneath some overhanging rocks.
which protected US entirely from view
by any approaching over the ground we
intended to cover but finding. on climb
ing to the top Of those rocks, that good
prospect of the whole could be obtained,
We posted one of the Maltese here, and
advanced.
Having been out now for some hours,
and no sign Of ofopposition or danger ap
pearing, we abandoned slightly the eau
tion We had first observed /; we still
kept near together, however, and avoid
ed the open country as much as possible