ABSTRACT
Gyantse, or "The Dominating Peak," enjoys all the advantages of an ideal Tibetan town, as it possesses a commanding jong or fort on an upstanding rock to defend the town and its fertile fields in the well-watered valley which surrounds it. The strikingly picturesque fort or jong crowns a bold precipitous rocky hill, which rises with almost perpendicular cliffs from the river to a height of 500 feet above the plain. The fort was occupied without opposition, and the Chinese General, who had been interesting himself in the working of the heliograph was released. After making arrangements for the defence of the post at Changlo, and after dismantling the fort by blowing up its two gateways, General Macdonald left Gyantse on the 19th April with the rest of his force for Chumbi. The Grand Lamas, having partaken of the largess of the British army, so that quite a large bazaar or market was formed immediately outside the gate of post.
