The defeat of the Chinese by Japan is still producing
con- sequences. The Times of Thursday announces that the Regent of Nepal, irritated by continuous outrages from Thibet, has forwarded an ultimatum to the Lamas at Lhassa, and failing to obtain redress will at once invade their territory. The Lamas, it appears, relying upon Chinese protection, have again burned the Goorkha bazaar in Lhassa and murdered some Goorkhas, as they did also in 1884, and the Regent is tired of submitting to their outrages. He has plenty of excellent soldiers, and may even reach Lhassa itself, though that is not certain, as the Lamas may be able to induce some of the fighting tribes which acknowledge their religions authority to march to their defence. The British Government has hitherto always objected to such a war, fearing to bring the Chinese armies up to the Indian frontier, but it is believed that this time it will not interfere, and that the Nepalese will be able to exact a material guarantee. The Lamas are insolent even to the British, and the Nepalese Regent might, if provoked beyond en- durance, recall all his subjects from the British Army, which, though not an irreparable loss, would be a most severe one. Should the Nepalese triumph be in any way complete, we might obtain Free-trade with Thibet, but we want nothing else of the Thibetans, whose frost-bitten valleys shelter India on the north. east.
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