OUTSIDE THE JOKHANG " 268

STREET SCENE IN LHASA " 268

THE TSARUNG SHAPE " 274

MONGOLIANS IN LHASA " 274

THE TA LAMA " 286

SOLDIER OF THE AMBAN'S ESCORT " 286

COLONEL YOUNGHUSBAND AND THE AMBAN AT THE RACES " 290

THE TSARUNG SHAPE AND THE SECHUNG SHAPE LEAVING
LHALU HOUSE AFTER THE DURBAR _to face p._ 294

TIBETAN DRAMA PLAYED IN THE COURTYARD OF LHALU HOUSE " 298

THE UNVEILING OF LHASA

CHAPTER I

THE CAUSES OF THE EXPEDITION

The conduct of Great Britain in her relations with Tibet puts me in mind
of the dilemma of a big boy at school who submits to the attacks of a
precocious youngster rather than incur the imputation of 'bully.' At
last the situation becomes intolerable, and the big boy, bully if you
will, turns on the youth and administers the deserved thrashing. There
is naturally a good deal of remonstrance from spectators who have not
observed the byplay which led to the encounter. But sympathy must be
sacrificed to the restitution of fitting and respectful relations.

The aim of this record of an individual's impressions of the recent
Tibetan expedition is to convey some idea of the life we led in Tibet,
the scenes through which we passed, and the strange people we fought and
conquered. We killed several thousand of these brave, ill-armed men; and
as the story of the fighting is not always pleasant reading, I think it
right before describing the punitive side of the expedition to make it
quite clear that military operations were unavoidable--that we were
drawn into the vortex of war against our will by the folly and obstinacy
of the Tibetans.

The briefest review of the rebuffs Great Britain has submitted to during
the last twenty years will suffice to show that, so far from being to
blame in adopting punitive measures, she is open to the charge of
unpardonable weakness in allowing affairs to reach the crisis which made
such punishment necessary.

It must be remembered that Tibet has not always been closed to
strangers. The history of European travellers in Lhasa forms a
literature to itself. Until the end of the eighteenth century only
physical obstacl