It was not only in trade matters that the Tibetans had shown a disregard of the treaty. In the matter of the frontier also they proved troublesome, and during his stay at Yatung Mr. White was informed that certain places in the north-east of Sikkim, and within the boundary laid down in the Convention of 1890, had recently been occupied by Tibetan soldiers. The Viceroy wrote to the Amban in August, 1899, pointing out that such incidents were not unlikely to occur as long as the frontier officials had no practical acquaintance with the actual border-line, and suggesting that it would probably be convenient to arrange that Frontier Officers should meet before long on the border and travel together along the boundary fixed by the Convention.
To this the Amban replied, in October, that the Tibetan Council raised objections to our officers “travelling along” the frontier, and were unable to agree that British officers should travel on the Tibetan side of the frontier, but that they considered the proposal to send officers to define the frontier was one with which it was proper to comply. The Amban had, accordingly, deputed a Chinese Major commanding the frontier troops, and the Tibetan Council had deputed a General and a Chief Steward, to proceed to the frontier to meet the officer appointed by the Viceroy, “there to inspect the border between Sikkim and Tibet as defined by the Convention, and to make a careful examination in order that boundary pillars might be erected, which shall be for ever respected by either side.” In conclusion, the Amban asked to be informed what officer had been deputed by the Viceroy for this duty, and the date on which he would arrive on the frontier, in order that he might instruct the Chinese and Tibetan deputies “to proceed at the appointed time for the work of demarcation.”
This seemed clear and business-like enough. Mr. White pointed out to Government that, with winter coming on, it would be impossible to commence demarcation before May the 1st in the following year, so there was plenty of time in which to make all preliminary arrangements. He also said that the Chinese deputy was an official whom he had met at Yatung, and who had been most courteous to him. And the Commissioner and Bengal Government agreed that the Tibetan objection to British officers travelling within the Tibetan borders might be respected, and that it would be sufficient to erect pillars at the passes, which could be approached from the Sikkim side. So the Viceroy replied, in December, that he thought a start should be made any time between May 1 and July 1; that Mr. White had been deputed for the purpose, and would meet the other deputies at whatever point on the frontier might be convenient; and would be strictly enjoined not to travel on the Tibetan side of the boundary, as it would be sufficient if boundary pillars were erected at the passes which can be approached from the Sikkim side.
The Amban replied on January 13, 1895, that he had sent orders to the deputies “to hold themselves in readiness to commence work at the time suggested by the Viceroy,” and he suggested that the respective officers should “come together at Yatung, where they can decide upon the best place for beginning operations, and where the three parties (Indian, Chinese, and Tibetan) can agree upon a date for starting together on the work of demarcation.”
Everything was then carefully and deliberately arranged, and there seemed good prospect of a settlement of the frontier; but when, in the following May, Mr. White approached the frontier to meet the Chinese deputy, in accordance with an arrangement they had made between them, he was met by a letter, written by direction of the deputy, and stating that the Lamas were obstinate in their refusal to supply transport, and that he was much disturbed at his failure to keep his appointment, but had laid his difficulties before the Amban. On May 19 Mr. White and the Chinese Major met—a different one from the deputy originally appointed, for the latter had since died. He asked for more delay, but Mr. White refused, as he had already been kept waiting with his escort at inclement altitudes, and Mr. White and he fixed the site of the pillar on the Jelap-la (pass), which is a spot where the site of the watershed forming the boundary, according to treaty, is quite unmistakable, as it runs along a very sharply-defined ridge. Mr. White erected a pillar here, and arranged with the Chinese deputy to meet him at another pass, the Dokala, on June 1, while Mr. White should in the interval erect a pillar at the Donchukla, to be afterwards inspected by the Chinese.
At this time Mr. White also received a letter from the Amban, saying that a day for the beginning of the work having been decided upon, it was, of course, proper that a commencement should be made on that day, and he had already received the consent of the Tibetan State Council to that end. But the Lamas of the three great monasteries, the Amban proceeded to explain, were still full of suspicion, and were pressing certain matters upon him, which made it necessary for him to enlighten them further.
He therefore requested Mr. White kindly to postpone commencing work for a time, in order to avoid trouble on this point. But Mr. White replied that his letter had arrived too late, as the work of demarcation had already commenced before its receipt, and he urged Government to grant no further delay, for the Chinese had had five years since the treaty was signed within which to settle with the Tibetans.
The Government of India, however, thought that no serious inconvenience had apparently arisen through the frontier being undemarcated, and that if the Chinese delegate failed to meet him at the Dokala on or about June 1, he should write to the Chinese Resident, explaining that he had proceeded so far under arrangements with the Chinese deputies at the Jelap-la; but as they had not joined him, he would return to Gantok. He was further to ask the Resident whether work could be jointly proceeded with that season, and giving latest dates for recommencement.