20 S. E. Peal — Notes of a trip up the Dihing, [No. 1, 



buffaloes rushed up and they formed a group and then rushed into the 

 jungle alongside, the wounded one among them. On going up we found 

 blood but to follow them in such jungle was madness, and we had reluc- 

 tantly to lose the calf ; we subsequently found that a party of rubber-cut- 

 ters had come across it dead, and jerked the meat. 



Further on we passed a cunningly selected camp site, of five men who 

 had been out elephant shooting. The ease with which the signs were read, 

 the story completed, was noteworthy. Not an item escaped, it was no 

 mere guesswork either, as they could explain their reasons for all they 

 assumed. 



About 3 P. M. we camped on what is an island in the rains, and whence 

 we had a fine view of hills to the north-east that turned out to be beyond 

 Mana Bum. In the morning we saw snow on a spur of Dapha Bum called 

 Joitho, but it soon clouded over, A male and female Samber had been 

 quite close to our tents in the night, their tracks plain in the sand ; this 

 latter bpcame gradually less and less, and gave place to shingle which is 

 not so comfortable to sleep on. 



At dawn or as soon as I was up, old Kamti, as usual, brought me some 

 beautifully baked yams, white, flowery and piping hot, with some fresh 

 butter, they make a capital start for cJiota haziree. 



In the night the men found the cold so great that several got up and 

 sat at the fire and half asleep droned out long monotonous ditties, the 

 thermometer several nights stood at 45°, which in moving fog is pretty 

 chilly. 



Again after breakfast we went on, and had some stiff rapids to cross, 

 at about 3 p. m. again, we reached where the No Dihing forks, in a wide 

 flat valley with islands, while hills right, left, and beyond broke in view, 

 the best certainly seen so far. The extent of the great shingle beds and 

 banks, however, was the feature most noteworthy. 1 had expected to see 

 something where a little engineering might be expected, to work wonders, 

 in the water-courses, of either river, but as I stood there the idea of the 

 attempt even with hundreds of labourers looked absurd, evidently in the 

 rains these huge shingle flats are submerged, and all little efforts at cutting 

 or damming would be obliterated. 



This question of the diversion of the waters of the upper Dihing 

 wholly back into their own old channel, down Buri Dihing, is likely to 

 come up in the future, as the need for more water in the dry season for 

 steamers arises. Having this in view I examined the lay of the country 

 at the bifurcation, and went over the great shingle beds, taking note of 

 their size and elevations. About half the total quantity of water just now 

 was passing off, via No Dihing, and from where our camp was pitched, on 

 the long spit dividing the two rivers, the levels were pretty much the same, 



