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JOURNEY TO LHASA AND CENTRAL TIBET.
to the minister, and I finally prepared to go to him, especially as the donkey-men said he had expressed a desire to have me near him.
On June 11 I went to see the Lhacham, thanked her for having obtained for me an audience of the Kyab-gong Rinpoche, and spoke to her about my intention of setting out for Dongtse. She advised me to leave at once, as small-pox was raging at Lhasa; her two sons now had it, and from her appearance I feared that she was about to fall ill of the same disease.
Returning to our lodgings, I despatched Tsing-ta to her to ask a loan of 200 tankas. The sum was brought me in the evening by her maid Apela, and the Lhacham also sent me provisions for the journey and feed for the ponies.
