But the situation now began to grow worse. On August 31 I was informed by a trustworthy person, who had exceptional sources of information, that he was convinced that the Tibetans would do nothing till they were made to and a situation had arisen. They were said to be quite sure in their own minds that they were fully equal to us, and, far from our getting anything out of them, they thought they would be able to force something out of us. Some 2,600 Tibetan soldiers were occupying the heights and passes on a line between Phari and Shigatse. My informant did not think, however, that they would attack us for the present, though they might in the winter, when our communications would be cut off. Their immediate policy was one of passive obstruction. They had made up their minds to have no negotiations with us inside Tibet, and they would simply leave us at Khamba Jong, while if we tried to advance farther, they would oppose us by force. They were afraid that if they gave us an inch we would take an ell, and if they allowed us at Khamba Jong one year we should go to Shigatse the next, and Lhasa the year after. So they were determined to stop us at the start.
The Shigatse Abbot had, I heard, done his best to make the Lhasa officials take a more reasonable view, but without success. The Lhasa officials were entirely ruled by the National Assembly at Lhasa, and this Assembly was composed chiefly of Lhasa monks.
It was difficult to understand why there was all this trouble about negotiating at Khamba Jong, for the Chinese Government had informed our Minister at Peking on July 19 that “the Imperial Resident had now arranged with the Dalai Lama to appoint two Tibetan officials of fairly high standing to proceed with the Prefect Ho to Khamba to meet Major Younghusband and Mr. White, and discuss with them what steps are to be taken.” The Chinese Government added that they trusted it would be possible to effect a speedy and friendly settlement of this long-standing dispute, and requested Mr. Townley to acquaint his Government by telegraph with the contents of this communication, so that Major Younghusband and Mr. White might be instructed to open negotiations in a friendly spirit with the Tibetan and other delegates appointed, and it was hoped that the pending questions would then be speedily and finally settled.