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tion of this community having left their homes on the right bank, 



and sought the protection of this village. The reason for their 



flight was that they had been robbed of all their buffaloes, and a 



heavier black-mail levied than they could meet. The Kakhyens 



from Mogoung demanded their immediate return, but the Tswabwa 



of Sankah declined to give them up, stating that war would be declared 



at once if the buffaloes were not returned. With those familiar" 



with these people, however, the popular opinion was that the matter 



would eventually be decided by arbitration, and the spoil divided 



between the two mountain tribes and the Shans. Heard that the day 



after we had passed Shweyin a trader had been robbed, his boat 



destroyed, the boatmen killed, and he himself compelled to swim 



for his life. 



282. Friday, 30th January 1S74. — A beautiful, clear, fresh 

 morning ; started at 6 a. m. ; thermometer, 43°. Some two miles 

 further up, stopped for a few minutes at a sand-bank : the fresh dung 

 and pugs of tigers were seen, but nothing of the animals. This formed 

 the apex of a permanent island over a mile long and densely wooded 

 with large trees. Gold-washing is also carried on here, and it is 

 generally understood that the Kakhyens learnt this process from 

 the Chinese, with whom they traded in jade long before the Burmese 

 knew the value of the stone. A specimen of Agathis loranthifolia 

 was brought me, for which I presented a bottle. The wood is so 

 hard, that it can be substituted for nails, and it is supposed to possess 

 some charm which wards off harm from the happy possessor ; even 

 among the Bunnans in British territory, it is driven into house 

 posts to avert the evil eye. Arrived at Katcho at 2-30 p.m. : this is 

 a large Shan-Burman and Shan-taloke village, numbering a hun- 

 dred and fifty houses enclosed in a double bamboo stockade and 

 situated on the river-bank which is fourteen feet high, ascended by a 

 ladder consisting of a log of wood notched for steps ; beneath is a 

 shelving, pebbly shore. The inhabitants said they do not fear the 

 Kakhyens, and have repulsed them on every occasion a raid has been 

 committed : opposite is the island of Zeeghoon, where Moung Sain, 

 an amat of the Mogoung District resides. I was told that he is a 

 nobleman by birth, and that his appointment is hereditary. I sent 

 Yan Sing to call on him and show His Majesty's order to the 

 Governor of Mogoung, sanctioning my travelling through his dis- 

 trict : I also expressed a hope of seeing the amat. Beceived a verbal 

 reply, saying he would call on me the next to day. Found that Mr. 

 Graham had established two brokers here, and provided them 

 with cloth, twist, thread, &c, to barter for rubber, amber, ivory, 

 jade, and so on. The channel that separates Zeeghoon from 

 Katcho is about a hundred yards wide, and the highest rise up to date 



