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make them risk their lives. They are tolerably strong in number, 

 and well armed ; and, as a further protection, pay black-mail to 

 the chiefs of the more dangerous tribes for their safety. On the 

 other hand, they say that the mountaineers also find it advanta- 

 geous leaving them alone, thereby securing articles they are in need 

 of, in exchange for their mountain produce. The late Mr. Gra- 

 ham, spoken of in my previous diaries, I found, had also appointed a 

 broker here ; and a Suratee merchant stated he had left instruc- 

 tions that rubber is hereafter to be regarded as a State monopoly, 

 and that none but his broker is at liberty to purchase it. This 

 order not only gave rise to ill-feeling and dissatisfaction, but like- 

 wise considerably enhanced the value of the staple. Strange to 

 say that, although the inhabitants of this village have taken the 

 precaution of securing to themselves safety from the attacks of 

 highland bandits, by the erection of a substantial stockade, yet they 

 have failed to clear the dense forest around them, which reaches 

 to the very wall of the enclosure, over the top of which even some 

 of the branches extend : yet at a distance of a mile further inland, 

 clearings have been made for paddy and til culture, stretching 

 almost to the base of the mountains, some four miles off. Another 

 matter which points to the want of forethought on the part of these 

 people is the presence of a tribe of Leesaws within the village, who 

 are engaged in the manufacture of arms which are sold to the Ka- 

 khyens. These people seem to be a sub-branch of a Shan tribe 

 whom they closely resemble in appearance, and whose customs, cos- 

 tume, and a dialect of their language they adopt. I note at page 

 136 of Dr. Anderson's report of the expedition to Western Yunan 

 in 1866, he writes, regarding the Leesaws, — " the most interesting 

 circumstance connected ivtth the Leesaws is the strong affinity of their ^lan- 

 guage to the Burmese." This leads me to believe we are speaking 

 of different people, as there was not the faintest trace of any simi- 

 larity in their dialect to that of the Burmese. My Burmans could 

 not trace a single word that resembled their mother-tongue. 



287. To-day a message was brought me by a panthaij, purporting 

 to be from Hajee Syed Ebraham, a chief of this tribe, who had 

 been compelled to retreat from Momein during the recent massa- 

 cre, and was now encamped about two days' journey from here in a 

 north-easterly direction. He was reported to have gained the assist- 

 ance of the Kakhyens and Shan-talokes about him, and by whom 

 he and the fragment of his army, numbering some hundred and fifty 

 men, were gratuitously supported. The messenger stated that it was 

 the intention of the chief, immediately he had sufficiently recruit- 

 ed his force with Shan-Talokes and Kakhyens, to march once again 

 towards the scene of action, and re-establish himself, if possible. 



