September 12/25. Thursday. We had an excellent sleep. We drove through Kursk — in Belgorod we had breakfast at the station — here at the station our hosts met us — we rode in troikas — freezing cold — met the Yusupovs and to the church — the house opposite the old church — nice rooms — we were placed nicely. No one but my sons and Gadon. We had tea and chatted. Played the game of tetka and went to bed. September 13/26. Friday. Very cold morning — went all in a carriage 12 versts to woods where there were wolves — I could not shoot them — others killed 3. I shot a fox. After that, collective hunting — I killed 2 hares — there was a fox too. We had breakfast on the same farm for about 2 hours. We hunted together a few more times, it was very funny. An oak forest was named after me. We had tea at another farm. At 7:30 pm, we came back in the dark, so dirty with black earth dust, we washed up. Had lunch at 8:30 pm, played tetka. It is now midnight 2:00…! Our rooms are very cozy and nice.

Before leaving for the Crimea, where we spent the autumn, we stopped for hunting in Rakitnoye, in Kursk Governorate. It was one of our most extensive estates and included a sugar factory, numerous sawmills, brick and woolen factories and many cattle farms. The house of the manager and his subordinates was in the center of the estate. Each subdivision — stables, kennels, sheepfolds, hen houses, etc. — had a separate management. Horses from our factories won more than once at the hippodromes of St. Petersburg and Moscow. Horse riding was my favorite sport, and at one time I was interested exclusively in canine hunting. I liked to gallop through fields and forests, keeping greyhounds on a leash…