Mr. Brodrick on Monday announced in the House of Commons
that as the Dalai Lama has declined even to reply to the representations of the Mission, the expedition will pro- ceed to Lhasa, starting probably on the 25th inst. The arrival of the reinforcements is not, however, yet announced. It will be necessary to storm the fort at Gyangtse before an advance is made, and there is some ground for fearing that the Indian Government still underrate the resistance to be overcome. In a telegram to the Times, full of details, it is stated that the Lamas are gradually accumulating force, and that we shall have to defeat twenty thousand men, some of whom at least will be well armed. The Tibetans fight with great courage, and Lhasa is a city which, owing to the Cyclopean structure of its buildings, can be defended house by house. It is greatly to be regretted that the original force despatched to protect the Mission was not larger, so that resistance could have been paralysed by a rapid succession of sharp blows. We shall win in the end, but it will not be a quick affair, still less a mere promenade.
Previous page
