THE ZAISSAN SEMION 241 



He now applied to me for protection. I said I could 

 do nothing for him, excepting to hand over the paper 

 he gave me to General Boldyreff at Barnaoul. He 

 had brought over with him several of his subjects, 

 one of whom seemed so intelligent that we asked 

 his permission to keep him till we returned to Kosh- 

 Agatch, to which he readily agreed. We found the 

 man very useful and handy in every way. The 

 position of the Kirghiz Khan was naturally a very 

 difficult one, for he now found himself in the dilemma 

 either of returning to China, which was hardly possible 

 under the circumstances, or of remaining in Siberia, 

 where he was not wanted. I trust that by this 

 time the question has been settled in his favour. 

 As for the Zaissan Semion, he seemed to be in 

 very high spirits as usual, and was received by our 

 Kalmuks with great signs of joy and deference. 

 He told us that he had learnt from some stray 

 Mongols that all our horses had died on the way, and 

 that we had been compelled for the past fortnight 

 to march on foot. This news, he said, had made 

 him hurry in search of us, and he was now glad to 

 see that we were not in such straits as had been 

 represented to him. He complimented us on our 

 day's success, and warmly welcomed us back into his 

 territory. The men he had brought, he said, were 



