200 TROUBLE WITH OFFICIALS 
out to look on, the races being one of the great events 
of the year. The king, I was informed, gave three 
prizes, but the racing went on all day, a large number 
of ponies being made use of. 
July 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. The 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 might incense them against the foreigners 
and cause ageneral attack to be made. Inthe evening 
