88 AFTER WILD SHEEP IN THE ALTAI 



agreed that he was by far the keenest and cleverest 

 of them all. Poor little fellow, I have lately heard 

 that he died soon after we left. He was as sharp 

 as a monkey, and kept urging us to take him to 

 Europe, where I am afraid he would have become 



;om kosh-a<;a'i 



a dreadful scoundrel, though in his own sphere he 

 was well enough, and at times witty and amusing. 

 He spoke a few words of English, which he used 

 to pronounce with his native accent, and nothing was 

 more funny than to hear him go through his short 

 vocabulary of the Anglo-Saxon dialect. Towards 



