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 side in the attack on Gnatong in May 1888 was lost. All subsequent attempts at interference by the Chinese and Tibetans were frustrated by the closer relationships with the Penlops which we maintained henceforth, and thus Ugyen Wang-chuk’s influence in Bhutan was firmly established.

Paul has, however, told me that, when he was informed of the occurrence at the time, the death of the Poonakha Jongpen was not ascribed to the result of a deliberately planned scheme of treachery; that the meeting was honestly held for the purpose of arranging a compromise, but a quarrel arose between the followers of the rival factions, in which one of the Paro men had his arm sliced off, and on his rushing into the presence of the leaders his comrades avenged him by stabbing the Jongpen with their daggers. But whatever may have happened, there is nothing to show that the young Tongsa was cognisant of the plot, and when the castle of Tashi-cho-jong was abandoned the Tongsa himself had the gates firmly secured, and, standing before the main entrance, prevented his soldiers from breaking in and looting the palace. He had even to shoot one of his own men before order could be restored, and that was hardly the action of a man who would lend his countenance to so mean an act of treachery.

After leaving this knoll, called Changlingane-thang, with these interesting historical associations, we soon arrived at the castle of Tashi-cho-jong, an imposing edifice in the form of a parallelogram, the sides parallel to the river being twice the length of the other two. It differs from other forts in one particular; it possesses two large gateways, one on the south; the other, on the river-face, and protected on the west and north by a wide fosse filled with water, is only opened for the Deb and Dharma Rajas, and was closed at the time of my visit. Unlike Paro and Poonakha, the bridge across the Tchin-chhu was not connected with the castle, and just below it was a wooden structure, cleverly designed to catch the timber floated