I did not allow my men to shoot but instead I raised a white flag and started forward with the Kalmuck for a parley.

At first they fired two shots at us but then ceased firing and sent down a group of riders from the ridge toward us.

We began the parley.

The Tibetans explained that Hamshan is a holy mountain and that here one must not spend the night, advising us to proceed farther where we could consider ourselves in safety.

They inquired from us whence we came and whither we were going, stated in answer to our information about the purpose of our journey that they knew the Bolsheviki and considered them the liberators of the people of Asia from the yoke of the white race.