of the Dalai Lama, and, indeed, about everything
connected with the Tibetans and their policy, were now
rife. In the course of these days I made a careful
inspection of the jong. The scene of the breach itself
is a striking illustration of the effect of rapid sustained
fire. Hardly a square yard was left untorn by bullet or
fragment of shell. The jong itself had not been greatly
altered, except by the low sangars and the other improvements
introduced by the Tibetans during the
days of armistice. Very few of the bigger jingals were
found in place, and an explosion which took place
during our assault had set fire to, and destroyed, some
part of the timbering of the casements in which they
were placed. Two or three of the larger ones were
afterwards found where the Tibetans had buried them.
One of the most extraordinary features of the fight
was the amount of casualties suffered by the enemy
on the postern descent of the jong. This was regarded
by us as almost completely protected by the walls
which had been built during the investment of Chang-lo,
but I counted nearly forty dead men down this descent,
fifteen of them lying together in such a way as suggested
that one exploding shrapnel shell had accounted for
all of them. Our casualties during this week were
low indeed. Cr* aster and Gurdon had been killed
and, in all, six officers had been wounded slightly,
one more seriously. Of the men, we had lost but three
killed and twenty-six wounded, of whom, however,
two died of their wounds within twenty-four hours.
A rapid interchange of communications ensued
between Younghusband and the authorities at Simla
and in London, and at last, on the morning of the 14th,
the advance to Lhasa was definitely begun.
CHAPTER IV.
TH E A D V A N C E TO LH A S A .
T h e force moved out from Gyantse for the march to
Lhasa on the morning of the 14th of July ; rain had
fallen for two or three days, and the road, especially
where it crossed the fertile valley of the Nyang chu, was
bad ; later on the sharp cut trang by the side of the
Nyeru chu afforded a good enough passage. In spite of
the drizzling rain, which delayed the march for one
hour, and lasted well on into the later hours of the
morning, the outlook of the great Gyantse plain was
changed for the better indeed since we had seen it
last. For more than two months we had been shut
up at Chang-lo, and during that time the vegetation
and the cultivation of the valley had advanced by
leaps and bounds.
Nothing is more vivid in Tibet than the glaring
patches of chrome yellow mustard flower at this period.
Square cut, and always level, they light up the dark
gorges and the river flats, in a way of which it is difficult
to give any idea. For the rest, clematis and larkspur
are the most noticeable varieties of plants. The
rain which had kept off during the middle of the day,
fell again during the evening, and tents were pitched
at Ma-lang, in a dull and depressing downpour. The
exact position of the camp could be ascertained by a
traveller who noticed a curious series of horizontal