It Is To Be Hoped That Not Less
Success Will Be Obtained In This Quarter Than In Sikhim And Hunza,
And Mr.
O'Conor's convention of Pekin in July, 1886, recognizing China's right to
receive a tribute mission from Burmah once
In ten years went far to prove
the extent of concession England would make to China. It is divulging what
cannot long be kept secret, to explain the circumstances under which Mr.
O'Conor's convention was signed, and the unusual concession made by a
British government of admitting its liability to send a tribute mission.
The Chefoo Convention, closing the Yunnan incident, contained a promise
from the Chinese government to allow an English mission to pass through
Tibet. Years passed without any attempt to give effect to this
stipulation, but at last, in 1884, Mr. Colman Macaulay, a member of the
Indian Civil Service, obtained the assent of his government to requesting
the permission of the Chinese government to visit Lhasa. He went to Pekin
and he came to London, and he obtained the necessary permission and the
formal passport of the Tsungli Yamen; and there is no doubt that if he had
set off for Tibet with a small party, he would have been honorably
received and passed safely through Tibet to India. On the other hand there
is no doubt that such a visit would have presented no feature of special
or striking importance. It would have been an interesting individual
experience, but scarcely an international landmark, This modest character
for his long-cherished project did not suit Mr. Macaulay, and unmindful of
the adage that there may be a slip betwixt the cup and the lip, he not
merely delayed the execution of his visit, but he made ostentatious
preparations for an elaborate mission, and he engaged many persons with
scientific qualifications to accompany him, with the view of examining the
mineral resources of Tibet.
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