found that Captain Bailey had gone
with the Younghusband expedition to Lhasa, and was now on his way to
Batang with the hope of being able to cross Tibet from the Chinese side.
We had an enjoyable evening comparing experiences. I was impressed, as
often before, by the comfort a man manages to secure for himself when
travelling. If absolutely necessary, he will get down to the bare bones
of living, but ordinarily the woman, if she has made up her mind to
rough it, is far more indifferent to soft lying and high living,
especially the latter, than the man. One thing I had, however, that
Captain Bailey lacked,--a dog,--and I think he rather envied me my
four-footed companion. I know I begrudged him his further adventure into
the wilds beyond Tachienlu. Months later I learned that although he did
not reach Lhasa as he had hoped to do, his explorations in the
little-known region between Assam and Tibet and China had won him much
fame and the Gill Medal awarded by the Royal Geographical Society.

Thanks to Captain Bailey I suffered no inconvenience from the absence of
the missionaries on whom I had relied for help in getting a cheque
cashed, as he kindly introduced me to the postmaster, to whom he had
brought a letter from the English post-commissioner at Chengtu, and this
official most courteously gave me all the money I needed for the next
stage of my journey. The Imperial Post-Office was in 1911 still under
the same management as the customs service, and was marked by the same
efficiency. All over China it had spread a network of post-routes, and
by this time, unless the Revolution has upset things, as it probably
has, there should be a regular mail service between Tachienlu and Batang
and Lhasa. To be sure, the arrangements at Tachienlu were rather
primitive, but the surprising thing was that there should be any
post-office at all. When I went for my letters the morning after I
arrived, I was shown a large heap of stuff on the floor of the little
office, and the interpreter and I spent a good half-hour disentangling
my things from the dusty pile, most of which was apparently for members
of the large French mission in Tachienlu. I was sorry not to have a
chance to meet representatives of the mission, which has been
established for a long time, and works, I believe, among both Tibetans
and Chinese, the Protestants confining themselves to the Chinese
community. Nor was I more successful in learning about the Protestant
work,