30 S. E. Peal — Report on a visit to the Nongyang Lake. [No. 1, 



sketched a pretty little Buddhist chang and school-house with very fair 

 carving about it. For some reason, the Bapu, like the one at Bor Pakhial, has 

 gone to Burma, and they did not know whether he would return. It seems 

 a great pity if Buddhism is doomed to die out here among these people ; 

 theoretically and practically it seems infinitely better than what they are 

 getting in lieu of it, i. e., a mixture of the dregs of several superstitions. 



We reached Bor Pakhial about 3 p. M. and camped this time up on the 

 bank near the houses and some bamboos, and soon had a collection to learn 

 of our success. A little before sunset I fixed up the telescope pretty firmly, 

 and showed them several canoes full of people in the distance ; there was 

 great excitement over it, for, though very far off, the boys kept calling out 

 the names of the girls and women in the boats, and were able to recognize 

 them. As they came nearer it was a pretty sight, and they made the boats 

 travel, as most of them had oars and were paddling. As the canoes were too 

 small to sit down in, all were standing in a row, five or six in each long and 

 narrow dug-out, then they all ran up to see us. Several old men reiterated 

 the story about the people who had originally inhabited the valley of Nong- 

 yang, and who were driven out by the Singplms. They also indicated the 

 difficulties of a route east via Manchi or Bor Khampti, up the Dihing, of 

 the Sitkha ; of this latter route, they could only speak by repute. 



Taking the configuration of the whole country and the ranges around, 

 in regard to the countries beyond, it seems that the only feasible in or 

 outlet is via the Namrup basin and Nong} r ang or Loglai ; eastwards the 

 Patkai not only rises, but the approaches from either side become more and 

 more difficult and traverse an uninhabited country. Westwards, again, 

 though inhabited by Nagas, the hills are also more difficult, and the actual 

 water-parting at a much higher elevation, the tract of mountainous country 

 on either side becoming much wider. 



The discovery of the actual route where it crossed the Patkai in olden 

 times is not now very difficult, its locality is known, and exploration on the 

 spot is all that is necessary. 



It is not unlikely that in ascending some one of the several gaps in 

 the lower part of the range east of the present pass, and not more than 

 two or three miles distant, the path may be found to debouch almost at 

 once on the level, or but little above it, rendering a route anything but 

 difficult to open there. 



Certainly, the elevation cannot be over 600 or 800 feet above the 

 tributary of Loglai first met, that river itself probably running at about 

 1,000 feet below the crest. Nongyang is but 1,200 feet below a much 

 higher portion. There are reasons for presuming that this old route was in 

 use as the " Doi bat" in 592 A. D. by the earliest Shans from Mogong. 



In illustration of this paper see Plates VIII to XIII. 



