Another month passed, and there was still no improvement in the situation. On the contrary, continued rumours arrived that the Tibetans were massing troops, and that at Lhasa they were quite prepared to go to war. The old Shigatse Abbot was very friendly, but quite ineffectual in bringing about negotiations. One day he lunched with us, and assured us that he had made a divination that Yatung was the place where negotiations would be carried on quickest. I said that what we wanted to find was a place where the negotiations could be carried on, not quickest, but best; and I asked him to consult his beads again, and see if Shigatse would not be suitable in that respect. He laughed, and replied that the divination had to be made in front of an altar, to the accompaniment of music. Captain O’Connor had succeeded in making the Abbot and his people so friendly that Mr. Wilton heard from Chinese sources that the Chinese believed that we had either bought over the Abbot or promised him some considerable concession—neither of which was, of course, the case. Still, all this friendliness of the Shigatse men amounted to very little practical use as long as the Lhasa people were still obstinate. So on October 7 I telegraphed to Government that I was strengthening my escort by 100 men from the support, and on the following day telegraphed them a resumé of the whole situation.
I said that the Viceroy’s despatch had reached the Resident one month previously, and no reply had yet been received, though letters from Lhasa could reach Khamba Jong in four days. The Mission had been there for three months without being able to even commence negotiations. The Chinese showed indifference and incompetence, and the Tibetans pure obstruction. The present Resident was acknowledged by even the Chinese to be weak and incompetent, and his Associate Resident had been allowed to resign some months back. The new Amban, though appointed in December, was only just leaving Chengtu, and could not reach the frontier till January. The new Associate Resident had been given sick-leave before even joining his post. Mr. Ho, though I had given him the above-mentioned very serious warning, made no haste to proceed to Lhasa, but had loitered at Phari. Even if the Chinese showed less indifference, they could do little with the Tibetans. Mr. Ho was refused transport, and Colonel Chao (his successor) had informed me that the new Resident could not bring large numbers of troops into Tibet, as Tibetans would refuse to furnish transport and supplies. As regards the attitude of the Tibetans, the people in the vicinity and the Shigatse deputies were perfectly friendly, but the Lhasa authorities were as obstructive as ever. The delegates, since the first formal visits, had refused all communication, social or official, with me. The two Sikkim men made prisoners remained in custody, and Tibetan troops lined all the heights between our camp and Gyantse or Shigatse; and there was much probability that Siberian Buriat Lamas were present in Lhasa. The result of all our moderation in the present and previous years was _nil_, and I could, I said, no longer hold out any hope to Government of a peaceful solution of the question.