CHAPTER XIV.. Shores of the Caspian.--Return to Tiflis.

SHORES OF THE CASPIAN.--RETURN TO TIFLIS.

Lenkoran--Abundance of game--Eryvool forest--Native fowlers--A hunting lodge--Swarming coverts--Wild boar--A paradise for sportsmen--Pigs at bay--‘Old Shirka’ and his quarry--A dying eagle--Caspian woodpeckers--Festive nights--Watching for a tiger--Forest life by night--The eagle-owl and his prey--End of a long vigil--The rainy season--The streets of Lenkoran--The return journey to Tiflis--Adventure at Adji Kabool--Experiences of post-travel--Bullying a station-master--Armenian Protestants--Russian telegraph service--In miserable plight--A spill over a precipice--Refitting our tarantasse--Argumentum ad hominem--An awkward predicament--Chasing a yemstchik--Renewed life at Tiflis--Great snowfall--Running down antelope--The ‘black death’ 311