Xiv IKTRODUCTION. 



escort provided for it. Conjectures of this sort are, however, mostly 

 vanity, and they are only mentioned here in order to show how little 

 we know of what goes on in these regions of mystery, and to indicate 

 the possible dangers of adopting a forward policy with the object 

 of promoting freer commercial intercourse with British India. Such 

 intercourse may, we believe, be trusted to grow up of itself in no very 

 distant future. The Tibetan, whether monk or layman, has all the 

 instincts of a born trader, and sooner or later he is bound to realise in 

 what direction his advantage may be found. We, on the other hand, 

 can well afford to wait an opportunity, and need not risk the substan- 

 tial gain of our entente cordiale with China by clutching too eagerly at 

 the problematic chances of Tibetan markets. 



With regard to Bhutan w^e are in some respects more fortunately 

 situated. No one wishes to explore that tangle of jungle-clad and 

 fever-stricken hills, infested with leeches and the pipsa fly, and 

 offering no compensating advantages to the most enterprising pioneer. 

 Adventure looks beyond Bhutan ; science passes it by as a region not 

 sufficiently characteristic to merit special exploration. Our policy 

 towards the Bhutanese, therefore, is determined solely by considera- 

 tions of geographical position and diplomatic expediency, and has 

 not to take account of pressure applied in the supposed interests of 

 commerce or science. In point of fact, only one source of jDOssible 

 comjilications has to be borne in mind. Bhutan, as 

 ^ *°' is generally known, is afflicted with a curious dual 



system of government, under which the Dharm Raja, or spiritual 

 chief, is supplied by a series of incarnations which occur in the 

 families of the chief officers of the State ; while the temporal ruler, or 

 Deb Raja, is supposed to be elected by the council of permanent 

 ministers called the Lenchen. In practice, however, the Deb is nomi- 

 nated by whichever of the two governors of East and West Bhutan 

 happens at the time to be the more powerful. The equilibrium thus 

 arrived at is eminently unstable ; rival parties are constantly strug- 

 gling for power, and the work of government is lost in a whiid of 

 intrigues and counterintrigues. This concerns us little, so long as the 

 turmoil does not boil over into our territory. But the ruling classes of 

 the State are still sore at the loss of the Duars, or " gates" of Bhutan, 

 a level strip of country running along the foot of the hills, which we 

 annexed at the close of the Bhutan war in 1805. Excellent tea land is 

 found in the Duars, which now form part of the Jalpaiguri district, 

 and a fringe of tea-gardens, giving occupation to a large number of 

 European planters, extends along a portion of the Bhutan frontier. 

 Many of these are within easy reach of a raid from the hills, and any 

 circumstance which for a time over-clouded om- influence in this part 

 of the country might create a risk of a massacre of our planters or 



