of June.* The Tibetans merely waited till daylight on
the following morning and returned it unopened. This
action on the part of the Tibetans cleared the issue considerably.
It is true that the Colonel took care that the
Amban should be informed of the contents of his letter
and of the action of the Tibetans in the matter, but the
responsibility for renewed hostilities on our own side
was at an end. It is possible that the abrupt discourtesy
of the Tibetans saved us from a serious
dilemma ; for had they been more polite the situation, as
it then presented itself, still would have demanded a
different and a stronger handling than that which might
have been suitable in the early days of our dispute with
Tibet. Younghusband, however, as was made, abundantly
clear by the reiterated assurances of Lord Lans-
downe, would not have been allowed to depart one iota
from the policy as laid down in November. That policy,
in fact, the Government adhered to till the end, and we
have not yet fully reaped the consequences.
The real answer to the demands of the Commissioner
was given in a redoubled bombardment that afternoon.
There was nothing more to be done until the arrival
of Brigadier-General Macdonald. Covered ways extending
out across the plain to Pala, or zigzagging
up towards the (Gurkha Post or to the bridge across
the river at the end of the plantation, made communication
between all parts of our lines easy and
secure. Not long afterwards the Tibetans began firing
into our position jingal bullets made of pure red-gold
copper. The use of this metal seemed an extravagance
* Nothing terrified the prisoners in Chang-lo more effectually or got better work out
o i them than a threat of release. This man asked that, if he carried out this commission,
he might be given a safe conduct Jo return to captivity in Pala.
and probably indicated that the supply of lead was
running low. They were pretty little'things about as
big as a large Tangerine orange, and possibly present
an unique use of this metal for such a purpose.
On the 6th of June, Colonel Younghusband started
from Chang-lo with a strong escort of mounted infantry
on a return journey to Chumbi, in order to be within
easier communication with the Indian Government;
he arrived at Kang-ma in the afternoon of the day,
and on the following morning, before light, found the
post half surrounded by a party of about 1,000 Tibetans,
who had come down overnight from Nyeru by the
short cut to Ra-lung. They made a bold attack in
the mist of the early dawn, and succeeded in killing
one Gurkha who refused to take refuge on their approach.
They stampeded the yaks and even managed to come
to a hand-to-hand struggle with some of their drivers.
But after a moment’s delay in rousing the garrison,
they were easily beaten off and lost over 100 men ; their
retreat was turned into a rout by the pursuit of the
mounted infantry. Most of them made their escape
by the mountain nullahs in all directions, but though
they remained in the neighbourhood, no further attempt
was made to oppose the Commissioner’s return journey.
At this time the Tibetans, so far as could be ascertained,
had a force of about 10,000 men in or round
Gyantse ; of these, 6,000 were holding the points of
vantage in the immediate neighbourhood of Chang-lo.
There were 1,500 on the jong itself, a similar number
at Tse-chen monastery, 500 at Dongtse and the remainder
were either in the Palkhor choide or in the town and
villages hard by. A rumour reached us of a large camp
just hidden from us by the curving spur which forms