CHAPTER IV.

THE RED FOREST AND BLACK SEA COAST.

Journey to Taman--Downpour on the steppe--Tscherkess bourkas--Long-tailed horses--Absence of cultivation--The Moujiks--Causes of political discontent in Russia--Veneration for the Czar--Cheapening supplies--A Russian writer on Englishwomen--Post stations--A terrible tragedy--Hotels--Ekaterinodar--The fair--Russian tea--Russian police--Bivouacking with Cossack foresters--Exciting sport--Shooting a white boar--Sad disappointment--Pheasant-shooting--A Cossack colonel--An execrable journey--Caucasian women--Great consumption of supplies--In a Cossack saddle--Mineral springs--A scorching bath--Lotus-eaters--Incidents of the road--An insolent Tartar--Parting 59