464 NOVELTIES. 



go openly, we should want an army to secure our safety, should 

 have to fight a number of regular battles, and probably set the 

 whole southern frontier in a blaze. 



I replied that this might be all true (and I did not doubt 

 it, as, when I went down to the junction of the Chakpee and 

 the Imphal Turail, the main Manipur river, some 30 miles 

 short of the nearest haunt, 600 soldiers were turned out to 

 make the trip safe) ; but — and there was a great deal in that 

 but — the Loe-nin-koe had to be got. 



Then at last, — necessity is often the mother of invention,— 

 seeing that escape was hopeless, a notable scheme was devised. 

 A party of Kamhow refugees, living or wandering about near 

 the border, were sent for, and two of these I taught to skin. 

 The plan was that all the adult males of the party, some 60 in 

 number, should make their way to the nearest place where the 

 Loe-nin-hoi was known to occur, and while three or four trap- 

 ped and two skinned, the rest, who all knew the ground well, 

 should spread out in all directions and guard against a surprise. 

 Set a thief to catch a thief ; being Kamhows themselves, they 

 knew what to expect and how to guard against it, and they 

 knew moreover every inch of the ground. Any one else was 

 certain to be killed, but in their case there was, as they arrang- 

 ed the expedition, little danger. Of course they were clamo- 

 rous for some of the Enfield rifles of my guard, but as I well 

 knew that then instead of trying to get Pheasants they would 

 have <yone head hunting amongst their former acquaintances 

 on their own account, and probably have thus led to a serious 

 counter raid into Manipur, I positively refused to give them 

 any arms. They were to run, not fight, and with all their 

 scouts out, and knowing the ground far better than the Kam- 

 hows on the other side of what I may call the Debateable Land, 

 there was no chance of their getting into serious trouble. 

 Now these creatures were the most absolute savages ; they 

 never had, I believe, though my Envoy thought otherwise, 

 the slightest intention of bringing the Pheasants ; all they were 

 manoeuvering for was to get a pretext for raiding into their old 

 country and to procure arms so as to enable them to pay out 

 old scores. So naturally when they found that they were to 

 have no chance of doing business on their own account they 

 decamped during the night. Then we sent some of the Moi- 

 rano- people, who had a certain acquaintance with them, to 

 warn them that they must either come back and arrange 

 definitely to get those Pheasants, or they should be driven out 

 of Manipur territory, when, as they well knew their quondam 

 compatriots, would have very speedily accounted for them. 



Thereupon they all returned, remarking blandly that they 

 had only run back to their camp in order to fetch food for the 



