KHAMTI TO INDIA 



strip the dead. In the late operations the troops had to escalade 

 abattis i,8oo yards long formed of stones and trunks of trees. 

 Seven or eight villages were burnt, their cattle slain, and their 

 cultivation trampled by elephants. In this way the English make 

 their power felt. At the time of our visit the Abors were blockaded 

 in their valleys, and forbidden to sell anything in the plain on pain 

 of death. We, however, had a sight of a few who had been 

 allowed to come down and tender their submission to the Govern- 

 ment with offerings of the large short-horned black cattle called 

 gayals. They had olive complexions, straight-set eyes, nose and 

 mouth large. From their habit of shaving the crown of the head, 

 they looked at a distance as if they had caps. They wore a short- 

 sleeved red garment and small loin cloth. Some Mishmis whom 

 we also saw at Sadiya had small conical hats of plaited bamboo. 

 We were shown some of their earthen vessels, which seemed to 

 corroborate the account of the pandits of parts of Thibet where 

 stone utensils are in vogue. 



During our three days' stay at Sadiya, Mr. Needham drove 

 us round the neighbourhood. A loaded Winchester and a revolver 

 were advisable to guard against ambushes, which are frequent. 

 It is by clearing the bush, the gradual making of roads, and 

 the establishment of small blockhouses with patrols between them, 

 that little by little the settlement of the district is being effected. 



From Sadiya the descent to Calcutta is easy. A few hours of 

 pirogue to Talap, and thence by rail to Dibrugarh. As far as 

 the eye could reach the country was covered with tea plantations. 



From the official statistics of tea culture in Assam for 1894 



we took the following figures: — Acres under cultivation, 268,796 ; 



number of gardens, 823 ; permanent labourers and overseers, 



331,807 ; temporary ditto, 98,043. Picking, approx., 94,829,059 



z 353 



