16 S. E. Peal — Report on a visit to the [No. 1, 



Patkai here at least presented a high and tolerably level ridge to the 

 south at 3,000 feet up to 6,939 feet at the Maium peak, all seemed deep 

 blue, instead of green, forest-covered to the top, and at some five or ten miles 

 off, the Nambong river below, dividing it from Sonkap, and receiving the 

 drainage from both sides, to flow east and join the Nauirup. The six or 

 seven large spurs from Patkai are all included in the prospect. 



Early in the evening the men arrived with the remainder of the loads, 

 and I pitched the tent in the usual form on a clear little flat just at the 

 outer edge of the village. After dinner we had a large audience as usual 

 of Nagas, men and women, the latter being in the outer circle. The object of 

 my visit (i. e.. to see Nongyang lake) was explained, and routes in various 

 directions discussed. There was but one to the lake from hence, i. e., via 

 the Nambong to Nunki, a stream between two of the large spurs, then 

 across Patkai by the regular and only pass. They made many enquiries 

 regarding " rubber," and I was able to show it to them in various forms, 

 as waterproof sheet, coat, air-pillow, elastic rings, &c. It was little wonder 

 that they were interested, inasmuch as till about a year ago any enterprising 

 Naga could earn 2 to 4 rupees a day by its collection, and both the 

 inhabited and uninhabited tracts on each side of Patkai had been ex- 

 plored. 



Here, as before, remarks were freely made in favour of our Raj, which 

 was favourably contrasted with the state of insecurity known to exist in 

 Upper Burma, and here also before our arrival in Assam. They spoke of 

 the visit of the Survey party some years before, to which they made no 

 objection. A good many of them had been as far as Bisa or Makum and 

 Tirap, but few to Jaipur, and very few indeed to Dibrugarh. They seem 

 to work pretty hard, the men and boys in clearing the forest (jhuming) 

 and house building, while the women plant and weed the crops, reap, look 

 after the family, cook, &c, though the carrying of water in the bamboo 

 tubes, often for considerable distances from some gully below, is no joke. 

 They also bring in immense loads of firewood from the clearings, but 

 as a rule the women and girls are remarkably sturdy, and think very 

 little of carrying 150 or 200 pounds on their shoulders and backs, slung 

 by bands across the forehead. 



Like most Nagas, they have no special agricultural implements, but 

 use the ever handy dao, which is also a weapon. Spears were pretty 

 common. They were iron-headed and of the elementary form common 

 all over the world, the other or butt -end often having an iron spike to 

 help in climbing; the young men also seemed fairly expert with the 

 crossbow. 



Old flint muskets of English make, were not uncommon, the powder 

 being made on the spot by the Nagas, nitre collected from the sites of old 



