India and Tibet : vol.1 / Page 180 (Color Image)

0180	India and Tibet : vol.1

146 KHAMBA JONG

to use in regard to Russian encroachments in Manchuria,

Turkestan, and Persia.

Count Benckendorff asked him whether he had any

objection to his saying that Government had approved of

the advance into Tibetan territory with reluctance, and

only because circumstances had made it inevitable, and

that our sole object was to obtain satisfaction for the

affronts we had received from the Tibetans ; and Lord

Lansdowne said that he had no objection to his making

such a statement.

Despite Russian and Chinese protests, the advance to

Gyantse was now irrevocably decided on, and once again we

have now to ask, Was the Mission justified in advancing

into Tibet ? I have given all the reasons for thinking that

the despatch of the Mission to Khamba Jong was justified.

Was this further advance into the Chumbi Valley and to

Gyantse equally necessary ? Perhaps, if we had shown

yet more patience and yet more forbearance, we might

have effected our object without advancing by force into

the country. Was this so ?

What eventually occurred showed that there were no

possible grounds for such a belief. Even when the

Chinese Central Government were aroused, and had

ordered the Resident to proceed to the frontier to settle

matters, he was unable to get there. The Tibetans refused

him transport, and when we reached Lhasa, in August

of the following year, we found him to be practically

a prisoner, and almost without enough to eat, as the

Tibetans had prevented supplies of money from reaching

him, and he had actually to borrow money from us. But

it was with the Tibetans that we really wished to

negotiate. Perhaps they would have come to terms with

us if we had been a little less impatient and remained on

the frontier ? Perhaps they would have sent a Councillor,

as we had asked, and negotiated a treaty ? On this point,

too, our later experience showed that we could not have

relied. When we at length reached Lhasa I had to

negotiate, not with one Councillor only, but with the whole

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