Accompanied by my wife and a courier I arrived at Grodno, where I had expected to have a keeper put at my disposal to assist me in finding and stalking the bison; but was rather taken aback at being met at the station by the Governor-General de Ceumern, the Minister of Domains of the province, and a posse of gendarmes.
On the night of our arrival, the Governor-General and Madame de Ceumern entertained us most hospitably, and on the morrow, together with the Minister of Domains, accompanied us by rail to the station nearest to the aurochs’ forest. From that station we drove to the house of the forest ranger, M. Campione, and there supped.
I found that all preparations had most kindly been made for me, and after supper with the Campiones we drove on through the forest, which was lovely in the moonlight, the white rays shining through the leaves here and there, lighting the gnarled trunks of the trees with a touch of silver, anon bursting through a glade and throwing a weird gleam on the mist hanging by the little streamlets, and then at a turn of the road (the moon being brought in front of us) making the most lovely vistas of interwoven branches and leaves, in black on a silver ground.
We arrived late at the Czar’s shooting palace, a small but most comfortable house standing in the centre of the forest, where we were luxuriously put up.
The next morning I carefully unpacked and overhauled my rifle, a Henry express made especially for me. I have shot with it a good many years, and believe that a small weight of lead properly placed—but I will not bore my readers with the old arguments. After breakfast the Ranger, the General, and Madame de Ceumern accompanied us to one of the keepers’ houses where we were to wait. It was a small cottage, and I fear the entrance of our party disconcerted the chasseur’s wife, who, poor woman, was standing by the swing cradle of her newly-born child. As the woman bowed repeatedly when we came in, I laid a few rouble notes on the coverlet, asking Madame de Ceumern to explain that they were for a christening present. This she kindly did when, to my horror, the mother prostrated herself before me, and endeavoured to kiss my shooting-boots. I hopped backwards round the room like a hen, and the grateful female on hands and knees after me. The rest of the party seemed to enjoy the incident too keenly to answer quickly to my frantic appeals to them to tell the good lady to desist; but, as luck would have it, she never caught me, only very nearly, for she went with remarkable ease and speed on her hands and knees.
Soon after this M. Campione came in and told us that we must take our positions, whereupon my wife and I proceeded with M. Campione and a chasseur to my post, by a large uprooted tree at some distance from the hut. The forest was here rather open; on my left stretched a small glade, which gave me a clear view of anything crossing it to a distance of about two hundred yards. On the right, though the trees were fairly thick, there was but little underwood. In front the bushes and undergrowth were much denser, but the ground sloping away from where I stood gave a view of a small clearing about three hundred yards off. Between this clearing and my right and left I could see nothing but underwood.
Aurochs’ heads
A great many of the large forest trees were magnificent limes which supported quantities of wild bees, of which there are so many in the forest that men were employed to rob the nests of the honey. M. Campione explained to me in a whisper that they were trying to drive the aurochs past me, the wind being light from the front. We waited in perfect silence for about half an hour, and then I heard the breaking of sticks and crashing of branches, as the herd approached at a gallop. Across the clearing they came, heading to pass me on the left across the small glade. There were about fifteen of them, all thoroughly alarmed, and presenting exactly the appearance of a herd of American bison, the same carriage of the head, and the tail carried in the same manner. Though I had but one short view of them, one bull immediately caught my eye as being much larger than the others. As they crossed the glade almost in file, he was the second, and M. Campione whispered ‘Le second c’est le vieux, tirez-le!’ At that moment they disappeared in the brushwood, but I could hear them coming straight on towards me, so cocking my rifle, I waited for them to cross the glade to my left. Louder came the noise of the crashing of branches; and out burst the leading aurochs across the clearing about eighty yards from me, closely followed by the second and remainder of the herd. Directly the second appeared I fired at it, and rolled it over. Reloading quickly, M. Campione and I ran up, and found I had shot an old female aurochs, the bull having changed his position while passing through the underwood. ‘Stand still,’ said M. Campione, ‘they may come by us again’; and, turned by a hideous din, shouts, noises, and whooping, the scattered herd reappeared, galloping wildly by us on either side. ‘Le voilà,’ said M. Campione, and there could be no mistake this time; for, facing as I was, the forest was clearer, and I could see him distinctly, a grand beast, his tail jerking up over his back in anger, about sixty yards from me, giving me a perfect side shot, of which I made the most, rolling him over with a bullet behind the shoulder. The death holloa was given by M. Campione, and by-and-bye appeared quite an army of chasseurs and beaters. I at once set to work, after all congratulations, carefully to cut the skin low down on the shoulders so as to get plenty of neck, the appearance of so many good heads being entirely ruined by not having sufficient neck to set them up with. This bull was one which had become well known, and I was told that several applications had been made to St. Petersburg that the chasseurs might shoot him, as he was dangerous, and had injured, if not killed, several people. He was much larger than any American bison I have shot or seen; his hair was finer, longer, and not so curly; his colour was a shade lighter, and his horns do not curve at the same angle as those of B. americanus. I noticed a strong aromatic smell about both bull and cow, which they get from a peculiar grass that grows in the forest called zubr grass. I was informed the aurochs are very fond of it. I picked some of it and found that it resembled ribbon grass, but the blade was all green, and had the same strange aromatic smell which I noticed in the aurochs. The height of the bull at the shoulder was about six feet, but he gave me the idea of being a leggier beast than the bison of America. I saw no difference between him and B. americanus which could not be accounted for by climate and habitat. The differences between European reindeer and American barrenland and wood caribou are certainly greater, and the differences between European elk and American moose are quite as great. I explained to General de Ceumern that I had only permission to take the head and skin of the bull, and that I did not consider myself justified in taking that of the female as I had not received the Czar’s permission, but some little time after my arrival at home in England the cow aurochs’ head was by order sent to me, set up, mounted by a Warsaw taxidermist.