200 TBOUBLE WITH OFFICIALS 



out to look on, the races being one of the great events 

 of the year. The kini^-, I was informed, gave three 

 prizes, Imt the racing- went on all day, a large number 

 of ponies being made use of. 



Juli/ 2. — Yesterday Prince Henri sent his interpreter 

 (Mons. De' Deken) to the Yamen, with a request to see the 

 mandarin. The mandarin refused to grant an interview, 

 and upon the request being repeated, again declined. 

 He then spread a report that the interpreter had come 

 to the Yamen for the purpose of robbing the treasury. 

 This, of course, caused great excitement among the lamas 

 and inhabitants, which was increased when it became 

 known that he (the mandarin) had sent to the military 

 mandarin for soldiers to arrest the Europeans. This the 

 military mandarin refused to do, and the Tibetan king 

 being applied to for the same purpose, also refused to 

 send any men, saying that he did not believe it and that 

 the mandarin was a liar. Tlie king was always on 

 bad terms with the mandarin, and to find him without 

 support from the military authorities was exactly 

 what he wanted. 



Things, however, began to look very queer and I 

 ■did not know how they were going to turn out. A 

 mob had collected, and they are in China always danger- 

 ous. A trifle mio-ht incense them against the foreigners 

 and cause a general attack to be made. In the evening 



