The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-12-21

forms, as Mr. Douglas Freshheld says, a long wedge of Tiibetan territory be-
 tween Bhutan, with which our rela-
 tions are sufficiently friendly, and Six him, over which we exercise adequate
 control, and a British force posted there with possession of the Tang La, the pass
 which forms the northern exit from the
 valley, would be able. in about a week,
 if necessary, to effect junction with 1 the missioin and its escort at Gyangtse JOns. To indicate roughly but clearly
 the importance of the Chumbi valley in this connection it is sufficient to say | that, taking, Darjiling as a starting point, Chumbi itself lies about fifty
 miles, as the crow flies lover eighty by ] the mountain roadsl, to the northeast. Khamba Jong, where the mission has
 been encamped is about ninety miles,
 as the crow flies, nearly due north of : Darjiling, and Gyangtse, again, some eighty miles northeast if Khamba Jong.
 A support occupying the Chumbi val | ley will, then, to all intents and pur-
 poses, lie on the right flank of the mis- sion's advance, a highly advantageous
 position whether for purposes of relief
 or cooperation
 Revertin to the mission, the posi- tion occupied at Khamba Jong is evil
 dently a strong and weII-selected one,
 and possibly it will continue to be held
 when the mission advances, if only as a link in the communication with Darjil- 1 ing by a route distinct from that by way of the Chumbi valley. Moreover, the place seems one which renders tenn
 porary occupation by small garrison easy. Sarat Chandra Das was there in the early days of December, and cer- tainly found the cold intense, but he says that the country in the neighbor-
 hood is alive with game. and it is un- derstood that the nilsson during their enforced stay have enjoyed excellent health and have experienced no difficult ty in obtaining ordinary supplies. From Khamba Jong to Gyangtse there are two routes, one of which first runs in northerly direction to Shigatse and then drops to the southeast, the other trending generally to the northeast with an easterly curve. The latter appears the more difficult, but is more direct, and the support of the force in the Chumbi valley would be more clearly indicated if 1t were followed.
 Gyangtse Jong, to which the mission is advancing, is the Gian-su of Bogle and the Giantchl of Sir Joseph Hooker, and is very notable place. It is de- scribed as a large town standing on the east or right bank of the Nyangchhu in a broad, well-cultivated valley full of white lime-washed villages. There is a famous monastery here, the Palkhor Chhoide, and many turreted castle, the town being usually garrisoned by about four hundred Tibetan and fifty Chinese soldiers. The valley of the Ny ang-chhu is reputed to be one of the richest in Tibet, and throughout it's whole extent-namely, from Shigatse to about fifteen miles beyond Gyangtse, a distance of about sixty miles, it is close ty cultivated. If, then, it became ne- cessary for the mission to make any protracted stay at Gyangtse or the supporting force were compelled to
 join 1t at that point there would be no lack of supplies in this Hand of delica- cies (nyang)." The possibility, too, that q powerful and equipped British force may within few weeks be com fortably quartered in this fertile re- zion, within one hundred and fifty miles of the holy capital, may not be without effect in reducing the fatuous obstinacy hitherto exhibited by the Iii
 betan authorities. London Times.