[3] She was a "lone wolf...so bad at harmonious relationships with colleagues that she would have to be returned to Britain or stretched to her own limits."

[5] In 1889, Taylor journeyed to Darjeeling, India, and subsequently to Sikkim to study the Tibetan language at a Buddhist monastery.

[7] They proceeded southwest, passing through lands belonging to Mongol and Golog nomads, losing some of their horses to bandits, and spending two months without seeing a house.

They arrived in Gyêgu (Jyekundo), the center of the tea trade between China and Tibet on 11 November, but bypassed the town, fearing they would be apprehended by the authorities.

By this time, the little caravan was riven with dissention with Taylor fearing that Noga, her hired Chinese Muslim guide, might betray or even murder her.

[9] On 3 January 1893, cold, most of their horses dead or stolen and without food—but only three days march from Lhasa—Taylor, Pontsu, and another servant were apprehended by Tibetan authorities beyond Nagchu.

The soldiers soon left them in the company of merchants and she traveled onward in bitter cold, reaching Gyêgu on 21 February.

From Gyêgu, she arranged to continue her journey with Chinese merchants via the tea road to Tachienlu (Kangding today), paying Tibetans to carry their few remaining goods.

"[13] At Taylor's suggestion, Cecil H. Polhill-Turner of the CIM, was asked to assume the leadership of the Tibetan Pioneer Mission.