Here again to the common-sense man it would have seemed ridiculous and foolish to run more additional risk when the Treaty could have been signed comfortably and without any fuss in either my room or the Resident’s. But those who have lived among Asiatics know that the fact of signing the Treaty in the Potala was of as much value as the Treaty itself. Few would know what was in the Treaty, but the fact that the British had concluded a Treaty in the Potala would be an unmistakable sign that the Tibetans had been compelled to come to terms. At the commencement of the Mission our prestige all along our frontier with Tibet had been at zero-point. Everywhere it was thought that the Tibetans could defy us with impunity. Our prestige had no value, and prestige in Asiatic countries is a high practical asset. Through prestige a few Englishmen, without a single British soldier, are able to control a district or State in India containing as many inhabitants as Tibet. Because they had allowed their prestige to wane, the Chinese, even with soldiers, were unable to control Tibet. It was to give an unmistakable sign, which all other countries could understand, that our prestige was re-established in Tibet that I insisted on having the Treaty signed in the Potala itself.
To the troops the news that the Treaty was concluded was a completely unexpected announcement. For weeks past they had heard of nothing but Tibetan obstruction. They knew that we should soon be leaving Lhasa, and they had made up their minds that we should have to leave without a Treaty. They were overjoyed, then, when they heard that the Treaty had been concluded and was to be signed next day. On most of the frontier expeditions upon which they had been engaged there was little to show in return for all they went though. Now they had been led to a remote sacred city, and had not only reached their goal, but were also to bring back something with them as the tangible result of their labours. Their satisfaction was therefore great.
All the military arrangements for the ceremonial were in General Macdonald’s hands, and no one could have arranged them with greater care and precaution. Every detail both for effect and for defence was regarded. The route to the Palace was lined with troops, equally for show and for use in case of emergency, and a battery to fire a salute or to bombard the Palace, as occasion might require, was stationed in a suitable position.
On the political side we had to arrange the ceremonial in detail, so that there might be no inconvenient hitch at the last moment. The copy of the Treaty which the Tibetans were to keep was written on an immensely long and broad stretch of paper, so that the whole Treaty in all three languages—English, Tibetan, and Chinese—might be on one piece of paper. Four other copies had to be made: one for Calcutta, one for London, one for the Chinese Government, and one for our Minister in Peking. All these were carried on a large silver tray by my Bengali head clerk, Mr. Mitter, who had accompanied me from the Indore Residency Office, and undergone all the hardships and dangers with unfailing cheerfulness. My camp-table was taken in to sign the Treaty on, and on it was laid the flag which had flown over the Mission headquarters throughout.
Half an hour before the time fixed for the ceremony the whole of the route leading up to the Potala, and the inside passages as well, were lined with troops. Soon after 3 p.m. General Macdonald and I, accompanied by the members of the Mission and the military staff, reached the Potala. We were received in the Durbar Hall by the Chinese Resident. The chamber was one in which the Dalai Lama holds Durbars, and was large enough to hold about 200 of our troops (some of whom were formed up as an escort, while others had been allowed to attend as spectators), and also about 100 Chinese, and over 100 Tibetans. The scene as we entered was unique in interest. On the left were all the British and Indian officers and men in their sombre fighting dress. On the right were the mass of Tibetans, the Councillors in yellow silk robes, and many others in brilliant clothing, together with the Bhutanese in bright dresses and quaint headgear. And in front the Resident and all his staff, in their full official dress, advanced to meet me, with the Regent by him, in the severely simple garb of a Lama. The pillars and cross-beams of the roof of the hall were richly painted. An immense silk curtain, gorgeously embroidered, was hung immediately behind the chairs to be occupied by the Resident and myself. And the whole scene was rendered curiously soft and hazy from the light entering, not by windows at the sides, but through the coloured canvas of an immense skylight in the centre.
SIGNING THE TREATY.
The Ti Rimpoche (the Regent) sat next to the Resident on his left. I was on his right. As soon as we were seated, Tibetan servants brought in tea, and handed cups to all the British and Chinese officials. Low tables of dried fruits were then set before the two rows of officials. When these were all cleared away, I said to the Resident that, with his permission, I would proceed to business.
I first had the Treaty read in Tibetan, and then asked the Tibetan officials if they were prepared to sign it. They answered in the affirmative, and the immense roll of paper was produced, on which the Treaty was written in three parallel columns in English, Chinese, and Tibetan, according to their custom of having treaties in different languages inscribed on the same sheet of paper. I asked the Tibetans to affix their seals first, and the long process began. When the seals of the Council, the monasteries, and the National Assembly had been affixed I rose, and, with the Ti Rimpoche, advanced to the table, the Resident and the whole Durbar rising at the same time. The Ti Rimpoche then affixed the Dalai Lama’s seal, and finally I sealed and signed the Treaty. Having done this, I handed the document to the Ti Rimpoche, and said a peace had now been made which I hoped would never again be broken.
The same ceremonial was followed in the case of the copies in the three languages for the Resident, which, having been signed and sealed, I handed to him. The three copies, each in three languages, for the British Government, were then signed and sealed, the whole operation lasting nearly an hour and a half.