The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1874-04-17
cnlisrrHaneuHs.
BEAR HUNTING WITH ALExAN-
DER II.
Sketch Of the Reig.rg Ca

auder H. i IN most respects unlike the
I rest of European sOver-i-uS He i nei-
ther fond of military pageauts. Ike HI
! Unc!e. William l. Of Germany: nor doe
he ike To occupy himself with stat
| affairs. Ike Francis Joseph Of austria.
Victor EmanUs"~ atTabiiity toward tie
/ lOwly i foreign 70 his naughty. reserved
nature; and his own people even charge
/ him with being more Of German than
/ one of their own race Bat in one re-
| spect Alexander II. shares the predilec-
! tons of his brother sOvereignS: he i a
| passionate hunter. And in this rpSI,acr
| he j. a true Russian. too: for his favOri,p
| sport. like that Of the true MOScOviteS.
! i neither deer-staiking nor ON-hunting
neither Spearing the wild boar nor fol
| lowing the swift-footed ibeX and chamioS
20 their Alpine Businesses. but boarding
the brown bear in midwinter in the som
bre pine forests. extending for hundreds
of miles in the level and sandy country
northeast of the Gulf of Finland
An interesting account Of recent
bear hunt in that deSOlate country Is
given by a Russian correspondent of the
UaireTS WUStFe His Majesty" ," writes
the correspondent. Il Frenchman. who
had long been in Algeria, was greatly
interested as / was sitting with him in
his private cabin at TsarskOe-Seloe. in
my narrative about our lion hunts in
Africa. He said he had read Gerards
book on that subject, years ago. with
extreme pleasure, and added that before
he had assembled the throne he had fire.
quently felt greatly tempted TO 90 TO Al
geria for three or four months, for the
sole purpose Of hunting the terrible
monarch of the desert ''Would YOU
like TO hunt bears with me-" suddenly
asked the Gar. When an emperor asks
such a question, you can never answerit
in the negative, even though you We're
not. like myself. an ardent sportsman.
And so | consented. The Emperor dis
missed me, saying that he could not ex-
actly appoint the day when the hunt
would come off, but promised to give
me timely notice.
A week passed by, and did not hear
from his Majesty. But on the morning
OF the 10th of November an imperial
lackey woke me up in my rooms at the
MaisOn TeleschOT. and handed me let
ter from Baron HOistein. one of the i'm
perial eqUerrieS. in which | was politely
requested 70 repair at an early hour on
the morning of the 18th Of November to
the EmperOr's huncin@-castle. Nortije,
on the banks of Lake Omega
was up long before daybrcak on the
appointed day. The morning was bitter
cold. At six O'clock an imperial EjJitEi
drove mp 10 the door. Wrapped in my
fur robes. and armed with my repeating
rifle and huntiug-pouch. / entered the
curious vehicle. OF We went at light
ming speed. The ground was frozen,
our two small horses We're wonderfully
ileet-footed. and il was not Vet nine
when we arrived at the imperial castle.
Nortiie hardly deserves that name 1t
is low. One-stOried wUoien structure.
painted dark-broWn, with singular round
windows. In the courtyard We're four
other hibitilas At the door stood half
Il dozen tall representatives Oi the mount
ed bo1y--EIard Of the Emperor, looking
more ASiatic tlIan European in their long
fur-linad coats. with their Caucasian
caps. their CircasSjau cimeterS. and Gu
rious poniard holders ON the breasts OF
their coats.
An equprry usil-red Ine into the En-
peror'S presence The Gar was seated
in front oI an immense wood fire in an
open stove. in = large room. the walls of
which We're decorated with bear heads,
antierS aud various hunting implements.
He was dressed in a short fur robe. tight
deer-skin panJaloons. and looked. with
out ilatrery. like the Je1H iFeol of q
Ninrod. With him We're SIX or seven
gentlemen. similarly aJrircd-aIl Of them
noble specimens of the Russian arstoc-
racy. They We're slipping hot. strong,
black coffee from large cups. one OF
which was handed to me The Emperor
made me Sir down by his SIDE.
Drink good deal Of that coffee"
he said II me: the air Is cold, and it
will keep you warm
This. however. was no great misfOr-
tune; FOR there Were plenty ofhcavy, long
double barreled rifles. such as are used
for hunting the bear in Castle Nortiie;
and in a few minutes ! was armed with
one. and also with tremendous hunt
ing-knife. sharp as a razor. and weighing
nearly three pounds The Emperor
gave the signal To start. and we entered
our kihirkaS, this time, however. only
for a short drive Ia an opening uf the
dense pine forest We ali-iiteI. There we
were met by dozen imperial pjgTeHfS
and dOg-kcepers, vino had charge Of an
immense number Of black Russian bear
dogs. ugly. i;erce-!OOkiEg animals, vino
greeted the EmPerur's appearance with
joyous harkiugs.
The Emperor chose the Baron Won
HoIstaiu and me a. his companions. The
other gentlemen set ont Immediately.
walking at q very rapid gait. To meet Us
again 10y q circuitOUs route Ct a certain
spot. and 10 drive towards Us such bears
as might be started by ed NicOiai, the
veteran bear-hunter, who accompanied
them. Old NicoIai said few words in
Russian 70 the Emperor who told NE
that the veteran hunter had assured him
that we would find one or more of the
br1in family before long, a. II had been
very cold for the past ten days and the
bears would be about looking for food.
our party, companied by foHr pip
geHrS. whoheld the dogs 10y strings. start
ed at a very slow pace through flIe thick
ct. Tne Emperor was very tacitITn. and
kept his eyes fixed on the ground. Every
now and then he stood >ti!i. and exam
ined the frozen ground. tu such Cccsi-
SiOus one of the Pjg,'a1ffs would step up
and do likewise Tha IIas WIS evident
" an experienced hunter. for the Emp
rur looked AT him. and when hr shook
his head. moved on again. Thus We
walked for perhaps an hour and 4 half
Ii was growing colder and cOl,ier The
Emperor bechOned 10 one ofthe attend
ants. who produced large wicker flask.
which he handed TO his Maiesfy The lat
terdrank deep draugiit from II and then
handed it TO me Things must have
changed greatly III Russia. ! thought 10
myself: for who would have dared 70
drink from the same flask with the ter
rible and magnificent Emperor Nicholas.
A. It was. / eagerly accepted the prO!Eer-
ed flask. and drank some excellent cpgn-
lac. The fiery LIQUOR had never tasted
better TO me. u. Won Holstein drank
next. and then we went forward again.
Another half hour passed by. when all |
Of a sudden We heard. a; d great distance. |
a long bugle flourish.
They have found a bear exclaimed |
the Emperor. his eyes Frightening with |
the eager anticipation Ol a. true sports |
man Listen.
The distant bugle sounded four sharp |
notes in quick succession.
The Emperor understood tie signal.
This way. gentlemen he cried. and /
started oil TO the Ieft almost a. run
We followed AZ the same gait. and the I
dogs. whom Tha PiIReurs had T., iooS., /
ran. barking a!Cul. alongside Of u.
y W.T. advanced, tie bugle Of the other /
party indicated every few minutes the .
direction We had % follow. We wera ey- :
identity approaching each other very /
rapidly.
All AT once two rifle shots we're fired at /
a distance Of about five hundred yards. !
The Emperor IuOtiDnei uS 20 stand /.