3 o AFTER WILD SHEEP IN THE ALTAI 



the story to us had been an eye-witness of this curious 

 circumstance, and had been himself commissioned 

 to take off this cross by night so as not to create 

 a disturbance in the town. These are the facts, which 

 need no comment. I give them as I heard them, 

 and I think it doubtful whether history will ever 

 unravel the mystery. 



General Lomatchevsky gave us some interesting- 

 accounts of convicts. Amongst others he told us 

 that a few years ago there appeared at Tomsk a 



man who gave himself out as Prince •, saying 



that he was travelling for his own pleasure. The 

 General asked him to dinner, and found him a 

 delightful companion. Some days later came a 

 report that a dangerous convict had escaped from 

 the galleys, and the visitor on being summoned to 

 produce his passport confessed that he could no 

 longer conceal his identity, and that he was the 

 convict of whom the police were in search, but that 

 he considered himself amply rewarded by the 

 Governor's excellent dinner ! 



At 2 p.m. we parted with General Lomatchevsky, 

 who wished us success, and the steamer began 

 advancing slowly up the Ob. We passed under the 

 magnificent railway bridge over the broad river, 

 leaving to our left the village of Nikolaevsky. This 



