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0355 India and Tibet : vol.1
India and Tibet : vol.1 / Page 355 (Grayscale High Resolution Image)

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doi: 10.20676/00000295
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CHAPTER XVIII

THE TREATY CONCLUDED

We were now at the end of August ; my time was very
short, and I was in an awkward predicament. On the
30th I had telegraphed to Government that the Tibetans,
in spite of their protests of poverty, could really pay the
indemnity, but that I thought trade concessions in lieu of
a portion would be preferable. I also asked for liberty to
arrange for payment of the indemnity by instalments of
one lakh of rupees (£6,666) a year for a long term of
years, if that arrangement were preferred by the Tibetans,
a proposal which I had also made a month before. On
the same day I was told by General Macdonald that
September 15 was the latest date to which he could
remain at Lhasa. The Secretary of State had telegraphed
to the Viceroy* that "the date on which the return of
the force from Lhasa is to begin should be fixed by
the military authorities in communication with Young-
husband." In accordance with these instructions, General
Macdonald telegraphed to the Adjutant-General† that he
had consulted me with regard to fixing a date for our
departure, that I had said I could not fix any date, but
thought the beginning of October the earliest, and could
not guarantee that. The medical authorities considered
September 1 the latest safe date. The officers command-
ing units thought the 12th might be risked. General
Macdonald himself was prepared to stay till September
15, and would delay the departure a few days longer if
that would make the difference. There had already been
snow on the hills round Lhasa and Nagartse, there was
heavy snow on the Karo-la and at Ralung, with severe