PREFACE
following year, I was offered the post of Political Officer in administrative charge of the State of Sikhim. Naturally I gladly accepted an appointment which would give me an opportunity of living in a country I was so anxious to see more of, and I have never regretted my decision; although, in consequence of the view taken by the Government of India of my special employment on the Frontier, and the fact that I left the Public Works Department to take up this appointment, I have been a loser from a pecuniary point of view to a very large extent.
In 1903, when it was decided to send a Mission to Lhasa, I was appointed one of the Commissioners, and on the conclusion of the Mission I was placed in charge of our political relations with Bhutan, as well as that portion of Tibet which came under the sphere of influence of the Government of India, in addition to my political and administrative work in Sikhim.
Owing to the friendly relations which had been established by Mr. A. W. Paul, and which I had kept up with Bhutan ever since I came to this part of the country, I found the Tongsa Penlop and the Bhutanese officials who accompanied us to Lhasa most anxious to make friends with me, and I was able to become on very intimate terms with them, a circumstance of great advantage to me later on.
My new appointment afforded many opportunities of visiting Bhutan and of becoming acquainted with the country and its officials and people, and through my friendship with the Tongsa I was given many facilities never before extended to any European.
During those twenty-one years my duties took me to almost every corner of the beautiful mountain countries of Sikhim and Bhutan, with their heterogeneous population
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