tions with Tibet beyond the great Himalaya ranges. To
this end he sent an Englishman, George Bogle, with these instructions:
"I desire you will proceed to Lhasa. The design of your mission is
to open a mutual and equal communication of trade between the
inhabitants of Tibet and Bengal. You will take with you samples, for
a trial of such articles of commerce as may be sent from this country.
And you will diligently inform yourself of the manufactures,
productions, and goods which are to be procured in Tibet. The following
will also be proper subjects for your inquiry, the nature of the roads
between the borders of Bengal and Lhasa and the neighbouring countries.
I wish you to remain a sufficient time to obtain a complete knowledge
of the country. The period of your stay must be left to your
discretion."

Bogle was young; he knew nothing of the country, but in May 1774 his
little expedition set off from Calcutta to do the bidding of Warren
Hastings. By way of Bhutan, planting potatoes at intervals according
to his orders, Bogle proceeded across the eastern Himalayas toward
the Tibetan frontier, reaching Phari, the first town in Tibet, at the
end of October. Thence they reached Gyangtse, a great trade centre
now open to foreigners, crossed the Brahmaputra, which they found was
"about the size of the Thames at Putney," and reached the residence
of the Tashi Lama, the second great potentate of Tibet. This great
dignitary and the young Englishman made great friends.

"On a carved and gilt throne amid cushions sat the Lama, cross-legged.
He was dressed in a mitre-shaped cap of yellow broadcloth with long
bars lined with red satin, a yellow cloth jacket without sleeves, and
a satin mantle of the same colour thrown over his shoulders. On one
side of him stood his physician with a bundle of perfumed sandal-wood
rods burning in his hand; on the other stood his cup-bearer."

Such was this remarkable man as first seen by the English, "venerated
as God's vice-regent through all the eastern countries of Asia." He
had heard much of the power of the "Firinghis," as he called the English.
"As my business is to pray to God," he said to Bogle, "I was afraid
to admit any Firinghis into the country. But I have since learned that
they are a fair and just people."

[Illustration: THE POTALA AT LHASA: A SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY VIEW. From
Kircher's _China Illustrata_. The only good representation of the
Potala until photographs were obtainable i