Hunting in the Caucasus mountains at the end of XIX century.
“The empire on which the sun never sets” was establish because the English were cramped on their small but proud island. That is the only reason which could explain the geography of their moving all around the world. They were the colonizers, the researches and world famous hunters.
It is not an exaggeration to say that at the end of XIX nine from ten hunters, who visited the foreign countries, were of Anglo-Saxon origin. They also reached the Caucasus.
The Caucasus attracted them by its cheapness and availability. It was close and almost free in comparison with the African Safari, which cost thousands pounds ( one thousand that days was as one million now) and took few month or with huntings in India when you need to have contacts to organize the hunt. It took one week to get to Vladikavkaz or Batumi and the cost of two month hunting was about one hundred pounds per person. The hunters could find the variety of game there from Mongolian gazelles in the Mugan steppes to bears in the broad-leaved forests and vineyards of the black sea coast. Even the hunts for the European bison were not prohibited, the only problem was that those animals inhabitated in the private lands of the Grand Dukes. The population of the Caucasus leopard was even high at that time and the lucky hunter could even meet the tiger, wandered to the surroundings of Lenkari. But the mountains beckoned the travelers much more.
The wild Caucasian mountains were known by their beautiful but severe nature, where people who lived on the unavailable tops of Svaneti and Ossetia could hardly find or grow any livelihood. There was not other occupation for a man that a hunting or a war. All valley dwellers, no matter Russian or Caucasian, considered an mountain inhabitants to be the gangster at heart. But Englishmen treated them in another way. They looked to the Svans and Ossetians and saw the passionate hunters who could take a few pieces of bread and to wander in the mountains for several days. They went on the tops where other people felt sick just looking at them. They never complained if they were not lucky and never brag if they get the trophy. They just gave meat to everybody in the village who need it then hang the horns under the entrance of their house or the church to thank the God and then to disappear in the mountains once again.
They hunted for wild goats which looked similar as the domestic ones and it was difficult to define if the domestic goats were so close to their wild ancestors or there were just feral ones. Chamois was also one hunting species but not the popular one. The most desirable goal was a Tur. They divided it into two kinds with smooth horns and with the ringed horns. The zoologists didn’t know how many species of ungulates dwelled in the Caucasus at that time. That situation peaked the interest of that time British hunters to realize the main dream of each hunter to get the trophy, belonged to the undescribed species and to call it by his name.
The ways of huntings, practiced by the locals at that time, suited for the hunters interested in getting meat first of all. Moreover none of them had long-range weapons. Once a year the Grand Dukes gathered their subjects and organized the corral hunting. They killed the great number of game during such hunts and then celebrated it. The ordinary highlanders hunted at nights near the salt licks. They waited the goats and sheep would come to drink mineral water and shot at the hearing to the herd. In nine from ten cases they killed young sheep or females but there was no difference for them.
But such hunts didn’t suit for the European hunters. It was difficult to define the size of the horns when hunted at night moreover the European hunters didn’t kill females and babies. It was a taboo for them. Also it wasn’t easy to take part in the corral hunting and nobody knew what game would come to you. It was as a kind of lottery.
Fortunately the Highlanders knew how to hunt for the good size males. The horns size differed the best hunters from the unskilled ones. That why the British hunters, refused to take part in the corral hunts or hunting near the salt licks, took the local guides and ascended to the tops and tried to chase and to get the trophy size males. The value of the trophy, taken by the hard work, was much higher. They experienced the ordinary hunting difficulties such as hard walking, changeable weather, cold and snow and also practiced one of the most difficult ways of hunting, invented by the locals, because I had never read about such way it in other open sources.
The lancer fitting was the main hunting weapon at that time. It allowed to shoot for 400 meters but to be absolutely sure the hunter should have to approach 150 meters. The best way to come close is to approach the animals from above because they don't expect any danger from that side. But the hunter who spend each night in the valley, because there they enough firewoods to cook, don’t have time to rise higher the animals. The hunter should rise the mountains, to find the animal then ascend once again to be higher than the trophy. Moreover the hunter should approach it not being visible for the male it means to go around, but the day would be over at that time or the male moves to another slope. That's why the hunters rose the top of the most perspective mountain, spent a night there and started to hunt from the early morning.
It was not like traditional British safari. There were not any elephants, the caravans of porters, two rooms tents, the staff including cooks and waiters. The hunter had to carry his luggage by himself and there was not sense to employ more than one or two locals. One was to keep the camp and the second one was the guide. It was a waste of time and money to employ the interpreter because there was no people who knew all Caucasian languages and dialects. Most of interpreters at that time were small-time crooks and just wanted to travel at someone else's expense. The experts advised hunters to study few words in Russian or Georgian and to use the sign language.
The policy didn’t allow the British hunters to organize the hunts as they used to do it in other countries. The letter of recommendation from the British foreign Office which helped them in all other countries around the world, just interfered with business there. The Russian bureaucracy remembered about the position of England in the "pacification of the highlanders» case and treated to all official travelers as to the potential spies. Will you imagine the paper flows from St.Pete to the local administration which had to ask the higher authorities almost about everything. The best way was not to inform anybody about the trip. Nobody was interested in the hunter who arrived to that area just for hunting. A large-scale expedition and "do not attract attention" - things were incompatible.
The hunters took into account the mentality of the locals who were not used to work as a team and couldn’t maintain the necessary discipline. The proud Highlanders treated the foreign hunters like the partners and refused to consider him to be a master or to work as if they were employee. The foreigner who would try to treat the locals in such way didn’t be understood. The others who referred to them without any prejudices, worked in the same way as they worked and shared the last piece of bread or the tobacco pipe, would get the sincere friendship, best hunting places and the last cloak if necessary.
The local guides didn’t even carry the foreign hunter rifle as how it was accepted in India or Africa. It was often happened that the guide shot first when saw the trophy not thinking about the hunter who paid him. The best variant to prevent it was to ask the guide to leave his gun in the camp because he thought that the hunter was too slow and shot first just to help him. It was even better to trace the animal alone not allowing somebody to hurry you and to listen the commands to shoot. Shoot!
That format of hunting didn’t allow Caucasus to become the priority hunting destination for the British hunters. The hunters who were interested in the number of trophies didn’t want to renounce their comfort. The Caucasus of that time was contraindicated to such people. One of the travelers described hunting in the Caucasian mountains as mountaineering on an empty stomach, but not hunting. But the others who knew the value of the trophy, taken in the wild and remote country without somebody's help and when he worked hard to find and to chase it, remembered the Caucasus as one of the best hunting places in the world.
Quotes:
“Let me to discover you the main secret of the successful trip. Don’t allow you any excesses which are not available for you companions. If you have tobacco just for one pipe, transfer the pipe from one to another and you won’t be left without a reward, especially on the Caucasus. So many years have left but I still remember one cold and wet morning. I woke up at 3 o’clock and found that covered by two coats. It made me to feel warm and dry. The owners of the coats were seating near the fire, very close, talked quietly and waited for the sunrise. They gave them to me to make me warm. I chastise them for their folly, made them to lay and to cover by the coats then turned to another side and slept away. Next time I woke up at 7 am (too late for the camp life) those guys we squatted around the fire and cook the breakfast. I was covered by their coats once again. The reason was that I proved my friendship in two days before it happened. Next morning we parted forever and they gave me a heartfelt farewell with the words: "God be with you!”
They didn’t consider that care to be something special but felt that I couldn’ t sleep when being cold or I could be sick if not to eat one day.
K. Philips-Wally.
It took three days for the famous English hunter and traveler St. George Littledale to detect and to chase the herd of Turs. There were several good size males in it. It looked as if the mountains bothered him to approach the animals and to shoot. None of the chosen tactics worked. At last the hunting luck smiled to him and he managed to spot the group of animals which grazed in a half of the mile from him. Even the wind blew in the necessary destination. It is so easy,- Littledale thought. The experience told him that there was a catch somewhere. And it was so. He almost approached the group when met the piece of clear snow 100 yards width, which was impossible to cross not being notice by the animals . He examined the terrain again and again trying to find the way out how to cross snow being invisible for the animals but couldn’t find anything. The hunter felt Tantalum torment, being so close to the trophy after three days of looking for it but couldn’t do a step. It was getting dark and colder. The wind started to change the destination. The fog rose from the valley and crawled up the gorge and hide the snow part. It took the hunter just one moment to cross it. He moved like a ghost and could hardly hide behind the rock when the fog lifted. Then he looked out from behind the shelter and saw the old male stood sideways on the rock. The distance allowed to shoot. Littledale aimed and shot. The bull dropped dead and the next male stood on its place and also dropped after the second shot.
Littledale had the lancer outfitting as is was required by the era and his status, It had black powder, the muzzle velocity was about 600 m/s, lead bullets (empty in the front part) and all-metal. The first rifles had a reliable stop effect but not always pierced the skin of big animals. The second edition had good breakdown capacity but could go through the animals and to wound them. It was hard to chase such animals.
Littledale shot lots of game but wounded several and couldn’t find them. His guides - the lezgin and three Russian guys advised him to clean the lancer outfitting. The Englishman replied that he never went to bed not cleaning the gun and suggested to look through the barrels at the light. They all looked and agreed that the barrels were clean but insisted on flushing them. They insisted on flushing it but not by simple water but water from three different springs which they would get on the sunrise while none of animals drank it or until not a single person was bathed.
When Littledale wounded the next deer, the lezgin mutinied and threw his papakha to the ground. He refused to hunt until the gun wouldn’t be flushed and said that the hunter didn’t get any game even they animals went in formation before him. Littledale surrendered and agreed to make that magic rite.
The guides had done everything following the Mountians law in a very solemny atmosphere. They gathered water from three different springs, boilded it and cleaned the barrels.
The hunter didn't wound any animals from that time and all game dropped dead.
The primitive magic of the wild Caucasus worked well. Or the reason was that Littledale refused to use the all metal bullets and began to us the express one.
One of the best guides in my life was the lezgin who spent almost all time hunting in the mountains and it would be better for him not to descend at all. First thing he did when coming back to the village was to drink vodka and couldn’t stop while had money. Once we should have to leave the village where stayed for three days because needed to buy sheep, to bake bread and reforge horses. Everybody was ready but we couldn't find the lezgin. At last we found him but he was very drank. Each time when me or my wife asked him , he took off his hat and bowed to the ground. We had to cross the ford near the village. Our group just came into the water when he turned and went back to the village. I turned and caught him. I asked him to keep and eye on the packhorse, just not to let him go back. He refused and said that he was more then forty years old and the youth had to work bu not he had. I replied that couldn’t delegate such serious matter to the youth and because I also was more than forty we could lead the horse in turn. He seriously asked to carry my alpenstock when I would lead the horse and I agreed. If he told that he was tired and sat down I replied that I was tired too and dreamed about rest. Each time when he wanted to bear my binoculars I agreed only if he allowed me to carry his rifle. We dropped that act almost all road and my wife nearly burst out laughing as she watched us. But it was worth it because he knew about those mountains and undiluted animals behavior much more than all other guides taken together.
St. George Littledale
