62 



AFTER WILD SHEEP IN THE ALTAI 



officials, merchants, and converted Kalmuks. Here 

 I made acquaintance with Mr. Meyer, the chief police 

 official of the district. He told us that horses would 

 be ready on the following day, which was spent 

 entirely in inspecting the ponies and dividing the 

 packages in one month's stores, as we intended to 



THE LAST STATION. 



leave the remaining supplies at Kosh-Agatch, sending 

 Joseph for them when needed. We also hired, for 

 three roubles a pair, from the natives a large number 

 of leather saddle-bags, into which we placed our 

 provisions. The ponies were carefully picked, espe- 

 cially our "mounts," and the start was fixed for the 

 morning of the following day, June 8th. 



