He had heard nothing of it, however, and everything was
going on normally. Nevertheless after tea we went round
to see the French priests, who should know if anybody, since
the story had originally come from one of their number ;
but they too denied all knowledge of the matter, and it
was obvious that there had been a mistake. We then
telegraphed to the English Consul at Chengtu, but no
answer had come when I left four days later, though
subsequently the Consul wired back that there was no
truth in the rumour.
Meanwhile I was the guest of Mr and Mrs Edgar, and
enjoyed a well-earned rest. We talked geography till far
into the night and it was now that I learned who were
the mysterious Europeans at Men-kong before me. Several
months later we heard how Captain Bailey had success-
fully crossed to India, and at the same time gathered the
foundations of the strange story from Y'a-k'a-lo, which
may be interpreted as follows.
It appeared that Captain Bailey had with him a Chia-
rung tribesman whose knowledge of Tibetan was of the
scantiest. This man had been sent back to China from
the borders of the Mishmi country, and while talking
volubly of the prowess of his master had so mixed up
his tenses that the story of how Captain Bailey had been
to Lhasa with the British Expedition acquired present
significance. This of course is only a surmise, but it
accounts for the facts.
