National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
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India and Tibet : vol.1 |
CHAPTER XIV
THE STORMING OF GYANTSE JONG
STRONG reinforcements had now come up from India :
the remainder of the mountain battery, under Major
Fuller, a wing of the Royal Fusiliers, the 40th Pathans,
and the 29th Punjabis ; and on June 13 I set out to return
to Gyantse with General Macdonald to relieve the Mission
escort at Gyantse and, if need be, to advance to Lhasa,
while Colonel Reid remained in charge of the communi-
cations.
At each post we stopped at the officers in charge
invariably reported that the people were well content with
us on account of our liberal treatment. The villagers
themselves were thoroughly friendly. They were making
money by selling their produce at rates very favourable
to themselves. They were only afraid of the officials and
Lamas. Captain Rawling, who had explored in Western
Tibet in the previous year, and was well acquainted with
the 'Tibetans, and who was now stationed at Phari in
charge of a transport corps, specially remarked this.
What the people were now afraid of was not our stopping,
but our withdrawing, and leaving them to the vengeance
of the Lamas.
This is a dilemma in which we are constantly being
placed on the Indian frontier. The people of a country
into which we advance are often ready to be friendly with
us if they could be certain we would stay and be able to
support them afterwards. But if they know we are going
to withdraw they naturally fight shy, for those who show
us friendship would get into trouble when we left. This
is one of the many reasons which make me favour our
keeping up a strong continuous influence when once we
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