1883.] S. E. Veal—Mtes of a trip up the Biking. 27 



see us off we made a start. I noticed the Gam go round to each of the 

 four men who went with us, and give him a little screw of tobacco and 

 wish him luck. The men with loads at once waded, but an unloaded man 

 would hardly have got across that way as the stream was so strong and 

 waist deep. I and the servant and guide crossed on a bamboo raft, kept 

 here on purpose. 



On the off side is a large flat chur quite open and used for grazing 

 cattle on, a small offshoot of Bishi called " Pen gaon" being on the 

 southern terrace flat, as Bishi, is on the north one ; on the map it is marked 

 Kasan, and in Wilcox, Kusan, which the people did not seem to recognize, 

 until my guide pointed out that they were of the Kasan Singphu clan. 

 Passing the cultivation to the east, we emerged suddenly at the steep edge 

 of this alluvial terrace, from whence the view is very good, as it overlooks 

 the valley for some distance and shews the hills beyond well. The bottom 

 of the valley was a wide shingle flat, here and there cut up by water-courses 

 mostly now dry, and with scattered rather irregular forest, the hills at the 

 flanks being very low. The valley which is constricted at Bishi, by hills 

 coming down on each side now opens out and is about eight or nine miles 

 long by one or two broad, the wooded hills on the right (to south) rising 

 pretty steadily to Wahambo and Langu biim, as shewn in Col. Wood- 

 thorpe's map, which is careful in detail. After passing the Kachong and 

 the opening to north where the Pakan comes out, we camped, where there 

 was firewood, at an old shanty built by rubber cutters, and were soon all 

 housed. Had we started early, we could easily have reached the Nchong 

 Bum, as I afterwards found out, i. e., the usual march from Bishi. But as 

 I was out as much for pleasure and health as anything, I did not attempt 

 to force the pace, or camp at certain defined spots at all risks ; besides 

 I always made it a rule to camp early if possible, i. e., while there 

 was an hour's sunlight, at least. While at dinner we were all surprised to 

 hear a gun go off about a mile away, so after an interval of about a minute 

 I fired my carbine, as reply, and to invite the other party over. No one 

 appeared but as they turned out to be Mishmis, (probably after elephant) 

 it is likely enough we were examined after dark. 



In the morning at 9 a. m. the air was 6ij° and the wind as usual from 

 the E. N. E. and we had a beautiful day. We soon came across the 

 Mishmis, three men, two girls, and a Singphu son of the Dungon la. While 

 the guide was talking to them, one of our Singphus pointed out where there 

 was a lake up in the hills, which he saw when searching for rubber two 

 years ago with five other men, on Langu bum. The summit of one of these 

 hills they found quite inaccessible, though from below it did not seem 

 particularly steep. At the extremity of the valley where the path crosses 

 the river, we had to wade, the Singphus at once stripping and tying their 



