'Volume II. MEMORANDA REGARDING OTHER EXTERNAL AFFAIRS. 1905.' [‎84r] (172/228)

( 7 )
AbboT^thatTe^had not ® s ?f‘ ion of the
foreign representatives Si/l^Saf 17 ?the r
Professor at 4St^nVat tS
already seen the Russian Charge d’Affaires and
had received a certain amount of advice from
_ im as to what he should say to Mr. Rochhill
Sir Ernest had no doubt that whatever 1^
en m his Ca heha If^r 6 repeat toih ° Abbot
Russian Ster 6 dUly C ° nVeyed to the
12. (See paragraph 13 of the Memo-
randuni for f ul y 1905 and paragraph 14 of
the Memorandum for August 1905.) On the
6th September, His Majesty’s Secretary of
State was informed by telegraph that the
text or the Lhasa Government’s letter, which
had been accurately summarised in Captain
O Connor s telegram, had since been received
and that Mr. Hell had also forwarded a
copy of an order received by the Phari
Jongpens from Lhasa, instructing them,
under threat of severe penalties, to take
charge of the Chumbi valley, and administer
it as before. It was added that, from inform
ation supplied by the Nepal Representative
at Lhasa, the Government of India gathered
that the present attitude of the Lhasa Gov
ernment was due to fear that the Dalai Lama,
on his return, would punish them for their
complaisance to our demands. The Tibetans
also seemed to think it possible that the
negotiations with the Chinese Commissioner,
Tang, might result in material modification
of the Convention in their favour. The
attention of His Majesty’s Government was
drawn to the significance of the Russian
Minister’s visit to the Dalai Lama at Urga
in June, the recent arrival at Lhasa of a
caravan under one or more Russians as openly
asserted by the Tibetans, and the remonstrance
of the Russian Government against the alleged
contravention of the assurances given by
Lord Lansdowne {vide paragraph 11 of
the Memorandum for August 1905). In
these circumstances, and in view of the objec
tionable tone of the letter, His Majesty s
Government was informed that the Govern
ment of India agreed with Captain O’Connor
that a firm reply was essential in order to
convince the Lhasa Government that no
pressure from whatsoever quarter would lead the
British Government to recede from the position
conferred on them by the Convention, whether
. nr not. It was accord-
anuroved, to instruct bapiaiu w *
fuSficXn Seunfriendly language which