CHAPTER. Xx 
ACROSS THE CHINA-TIBET FRONTIER 
Tue first person I sought in Batang was Mr Edgar 
of the China Inland Mission, to whom I confided the 
disquieting rumour which had reached me at A-tun-tsi. 
He had heard nothing of it, however, and everything was 
going on normally. Nevertheless after tea we went round 
to see the French priests, who should know if anybody, since 
the story had originally come from one of their number ; 
but they too denied all knowledge of the matter, and it 
was obvious that there had been a mistake. We then 
telegraphed to the English Consul at Chengtu, but no 
answer had come when I left four days later, though 
subsequently the Consul wired back that there was no 
truth in the rumour. 
Meanwhile I was the guest of Mr and Mrs Edgar, and 
enjoyed a well-earned rest. We talked geography till far 
into the night and it was now that I learned who were 
the mysterious Europeans at Men-kong before me. Several 
months later we heard how Captain Bailey had success- 
fully crossed to India, and at the same time gathered the 
foundations of the strange story from Y‘a-k‘a-lo, which 
may be interpreted as follows. 
It appeared that Captain Bailey had with him a Chia- 
rung tribesman whose knowledge of Tibetan was of the 
scantiest. This man had been sent back to China from 
the borders of the Mishmi country, and while talking 
volubly of the prowess of his master had so mixed up 
his tenses that the story of how Captain Bailey had been 
to Lhasa with the British Expedition acquired present 
significance. This of course is only a surmise, but it 
accounts for the facts. 
