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out any coolies at all, situated on a mountain, and in a sea of forest and hills; some of the same tribe of men who accompanied the Shan detachment served them the same trick. The Shans therefore left their grain at Kareabonglo and pushed on for Beren.

The chief here promised to give us thirty coolies, which added to those the interpreter had brought up with the baggage, and the guard that had been left behind, enabled me to carry eight days grain.

On the 21st February, left Kareabonglo, having been detained for the want of coolies three days. At 10° 35' A. M. by a good path went over some undulating ground, and then gradually ascended at 1 P. M. to the Dádákee stream, which is about forty yards wide, with fine clear cold water gushing through large round pebbles; it falls into the Támákee or Dhunsiree. Ascending, we went along by an excellent path till we came to the Inchurkee river, another stream of nearly equal size to the Dádákee, discharging itself into the Támákee. Passing it we had alternatively good and steep paths till we had passed over a plain and up the bed of a rocky rivulet. We then ascended and passed over the hill on which Umbolo, or Juekong, is situated; we left this village out of sight on our left, and encamped in very good huts, erected for us by the chief Okonah at 7 P. M. Umbolo consists of about eighty or a hundred houses. The Nagas hereabout are a much finer race than those of the Cachar Hills; and the colour of the eastern Nagas is a much more wholesome brown than of those in the vicinity of Goomegogoo, who are more of an ochre colour. The chief brought down eggs, &c., and relieved those men who had come from Kareabonglo by another band. He seemed quite delighted at the idea of the Angamees, the tyrants of the Hills, being put down; and collected twenty maunds of grain for us, which however we could not take with us as we had no porters. I was informed by a Muniporee (who had been captured whilst young, and sold to a Naga of this village, and had married a Naga girl) that there was a road from this to Assam in five days viâ Sumoogoding. The distance from this to the village we had left (Kareabonglo) is about 12 or 13 miles, and there are a good many hills to go over.

February 22d. We left at 10° 20′ A. M. and crossed a small stream, and an hour afterwards ascended the great range to the village of Unggong, from whence a most commanding view is disclosed of the low hills up to and beyond Tooleeram's country, with the course of the Dhunsiree or Támákee. The hill on which stands Sumoogoding is plainly visible, as also the whole of the Angamee valley, and partially grass covered hills. The people of this village treated us civilly, and collected grain (rice) for us of a very good kind. The village consists

of about sixty houses, on the top of a very high hill joining the great range. I went into their village, the people were a little frightened at first, but afterwards they came round to look at the singularity of our dress and difference of colour. They were very much astonished at the whiteness of our cloths, they indeed are in a most primitive state of nature; the road went at the back of their village. We halted about an hour afterwards on the banks of a small stream having passed the Unggrongrow river at the base of the hill the village stands on; it falls in the Támákee, at a distance of one day's journey from the village in question. The distance to-day was only six miles, owing to some of our Semker coolies (who had joined us at Kareabonglo) having run off on the way.

February 23d. Left at 8° 5' A. M. by a tolerable path, and entered the great range which we had hitherto skirted, and went up and down hill till we suddenly diverged from the continued forest to a most noble opening, which disclosed to our view an extensive valley surrounded by partly cleared mountains, with topes of firs, these were in solitary groups and in ravines; the large village of Beren appeared on the summit of a high mountain across the valley. The encampment of the Shans was visible on a knoll below the village. On arriving nearer to what we supposed to be cleared ground, we found extensive wastes of low grass, such as is met with in the Kassyah hills. Winding over several ravines, and passing a river flowing south, we met the Mohurrir, Ram Doss, and a party of Shans who had come out to meet and warn us to keep together, as the Angamees had the night before attacked them and wounded one man, and were prowling about in parties to catch stragglers.

On further inquiry, I was sorry to find that it was through their own very great neglect, and to their total inattention to the warning I had given them, to keep their bayonets fixed on guard and sentry duties, that one of the party, the Shan sentry, was speared in the leg. I believe there were ten or twelve Angamees about the camp, and two of them crawled up through the grass at 12 P. M., and actually speared the sentry who was sitting down, and most probably asleep. After being speared he attempted to fire his fusil, but the powder being damp it missed fire, whereupon he had time to butt him, but the Naga forced himself away and ran off; the second sentry came up and fired, but missed; had the bayonets been fixed, the fall of the Angamee would have been inevitable. I found the camp built on the remains of an old circular fort, erected formerly by Raja Krishna Chunder of Cachar, who was driven out of the country by famine, after losing one or two men by the spears of the Angamees; he came

up to revenge the attacks made on his subjects by those banditti. He brought up a long ten or twelve pounder to frighten these wild people with, but he found an enemy that made his great gun useless, and was obliged to leave it behind in the jungles. The chief of Beren, Iquijimpo, was most accommodating, and offered to sell the old cylinder for one hundred rupees. On arrival, finding the dried grass around the stockade had not been removed, I set fire to it to save our enemy the trouble of doing it for us, and had the good fortune to drive the fire away from three sides of the stockade, when deeming all danger passed from the fourth side I left some persons to finish what I had begun; but from carelessness, or a sudden gust of wind, the fire spread, and the cry of houses on fire, soon made me aware of what had happenI seized first the magazine and placed it out of danger, then the grain was all removed, and just as the last bundle was rolled over the paling the flames devoured the store house. A little cordage was burnt, but no material accident or loss occurred, and all parties behaved very well. The troops were drawn up in line after the removal of the stores, ready to have repelled any attack the enemy might have made. I sent up to the people of Beren, who were all assembled on the height, to come down to re-build the camp, but they would not do so; I therefore sent up some Shans to fire a few shots to frighten any wandering Angamees from the neighbourhood, when the Beren people came down and re-built our camp on the ground of the circular fort. This fort was a raised knoll of earth, built up with stones to the height of three feet, with a gradual slope all round. I was perfectly astonished at the fine athletic mountaineers we now had to do with, and was much amused at their accounts of the Angamees. The chief of Rassam and Sarralo who had met us at Umbolo came down from the village, and in a most mysterious manner pointed to the stream and said the Angamees had poisoned it; I replied with a smile, and the gravity of his countenance ceased. I imagine the Angamees had instructed him to try and frighten us out of the country by some such story.

The two chiefs also hinted at the retreat of the Cacharee and Munipooree forces sent against the Angamees, and the absurdity of our attempting it. In fact they tried in every way to talk us over, and boasted of their superior cunning in the most barefaced and at the same time ridiculous manner. The evening we arrived, suspecting the Angamees might favour us with a visit, I remained close to the sentries till 10 o'clock, when the jingle of a shield in the jungle warned us of the vicinity of our enemy. I foolishly fired a couple of shots in the direction of the noise, which drove the Angamees away; had they not been thus alarmed, and had they approached, we might

have then punished them for their intrusion at such unseasonable hours.

They remained in the neighbourhood all night, but deeming it waste of powder and shot firing at sounds, I directed the sentries to adopt a rather primitive mode of letting them know of our watchfulness, and that was, to pelt stones into the jungle when they heard any thing in it, and only to fire when they saw their enemy; this order had a very good effect, for the enemy remained at a distance all night, and retired before day-break. Whilst at this place the chief of Gopelo, a larger village than Beren, came to pay his respects in order to prove that he was friendly; the chiefs of Moolookee, Jalooka, Báláka also came. The jealousy existing amongst the different villages is very great, and after the Beren people had built our huts, they said " There's such a village has done nothing, make them build the railing." On the 26th the brother of Impuisjee, one of the two greatest chiefs of the Angamees, came to the village of Beren, but would not come down to the camp until I had sent Ram Doss Mohurir accompanied by a Naick and five Shans and the interpreter to assure him on oath of his safety, and to receive his oath of amity in return. On seeing the party approach however he ran off into the jungles, notwithstanding the chiefs of Beren and Rassan were with them, and assured him that nothing would be done to him. The Shans were then left behind, and Ram Doss went out to meet him, but he objected to the sword and shield the Mohurir had with him; these being left behind he came close, and the oath was taken in the following manner-A chicken was produced, the head of which the Mohurir held, and the Angamee the body; they both pulled till they severed it in two, which was to signify, that if either was treacherous his head would be divided from his body in the same manner. They then held a piece of a spear at the ferule end, which was cut in two, and each retained the bit in his hand;-this is one of the most sacred oaths amongst these wild men. The chief then came down to the camp, and I assured him that his brother need have no fear for his life, if he would come in, and swear not to molest the Honorable Company's subjects any more. He agreed to every thing proposed, and volunteered on condition of their lives being spared, to pay a tribute of ivory, slaves, &c. He said his brother had gone to fetch the articles referred to. I showed him a watch and a telescope, and told him I could see every thing he did in any villages, and after frightening him by firing at a pumpkin, I gave him some presents and dismissed him. I waited till the 1st March for his brother's coming, as also for grain from Semker, but neither arriving, I got coolies from Beren and started for Báláka, a vil

lage six miles on our route, and to which the Beren people had agreed to take our traps and the little grain we had. The road was good the whole way, with only one or two hills. We encamped on a flat piece of ground near a well below Báláka, which is always built near villages for the cattle to drink out of. The chief of Ungolo came in with eggs, &c. and said his young men had joined Ikkaree inthe incursions into the Cachar Hills; that they were forced to go, but should not do so again. The term 'youths' is applied to all able bodied villagers. I deemed it needless to bind the smaller chiefs, who stood at the beck of the greater ones, to oaths they could not keep. The chief of Jykama (or as it is written in Captain Pemberton's map of the North-east frontier, Yueékhe) sent in a person of his village to know whether his coming in would cause the loss of his life; I assured him that we were most desirous for peace, but that his not coming in would be a sign of his enmity, and that in that case I should attack his village; the chief departed quite satisfied.

March 2d. I was unable to move for want of coolies. I this day got intelligence of Doorgaram Subadar and of the levy having come to Beren according to order, with forty Kookees out of one hundred who had arrived at Semker. The chief of Umponglo came in, and said Impuisjee, the greatest chief of the Angamees, who had promised to meet me, had gone to Umbolo, or Sirchong, to ask advice of the chief of that village regarding a meeting with me. This chief is his nephew ; he promised to give us grain as we passed his village, he also said the children of his village had gone in Ikkaree's train to the Hills, but that they would not do so again. Ikkaree is the second chief of the Angamees, and the principal leader in the predatory attacks on the Cachar Nagas; he was captured by Doorgaram Subadar in one of his incursions to Goomegogoo, but escaped, as he said himself, by the neglect of a burkundaz. Our grain being all expended, and finding none coming forth from the villagers, I placed the chief of Báláka in arrest, to induce them to exert themselves for us, but my experiment had a very opposite effect, for they all fled from the village and left their chief to his fate. On his taking an oath to bring coolies and grain, if I let him go, I released him, which was another kind of experiment, and proved something like letting go a newly-caught bird, for we never saw him again. Doorgaram Subadar came up to-day.

On the 3d March I was obliged to divide the party, as it was necessary to increase our rate of going onwards, or to return, for every moment reduced our supply of grain. I therefore left the Shan and levy detachments under Doorgaram, with instructions to make the best of his way after me, or otherwise to act according to cir

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