A SUMMER IN HIGH ASIA. 



thorough order from end to end. The officers who had 

 started with me, simply to shoot and travel, and had 

 remained with me throughout the whole of our difficult 

 and trying task, were thanked in the name of the State 

 by the Kashmir Wazir Wazarat, who gave a dinner in 

 their honour at Leh on their safe return and on the re- 

 opening of the Central Asian road. 



Much has been written lately about the necessity for 

 pushing British trade. Many appear to be of opinion that 

 it should be left to private enterprise to extend our 

 commerce. In Central Asia it is impossible for private 

 enterprise to succeed unless the State can show that the 

 road is open and the markets are not closed by foreign 

 fiscal regulations. When diplomatic action has secured 

 the right of entry for our merchandise into Thibet on 

 conditions not less favourable than those accorded to 

 other countries, and Indian merchants are allowed to pass 

 freely to and fro in the southern and western provinces of 

 the Chinese Empire, the Thibetan markets should provide 

 no inconsiderable outlet for British manufactures and the 

 products of our Indian Empire. The Indian Government 

 do not appear to view with disfavour the prospect of an 

 increase in our trans- Himalayan trade, but a certain 

 amount of active support is necessary if its development is 

 to proceed as satisfactorily as might be desired. If a 

 small portion only of the large frontier military expendi- 

 ture could be diverted to a more peaceful purpose,., it 

 would bring a livelihood, if not wealth, to many, and 

 enable the nomad Thibetans to dispose of produce which 

 is useless to them unless they can sell their surplus or 

 exchange it for the produce of more favoured climates or 

 more civilised countries. The Government which shall 

 accomplish this will have done a public service greater 

 than the acquisition of districts whose revenue cannot pay 

 the cost of administration. No policy of aggression or 

 annexation is desirable, nor would it be profitable to the 



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