1888.] S. E. Vt^^l—J^ofes' of a trip up lite T>ildvg. 31 



our camp site up-stream I was shown a conical wooded island called 

 " Khomong morang" said to be one solid block of stone ? To the south 

 lay a wooded hill called " Kumtsai ku" {Jiit. sand hill) and by degrees we 

 emerged from a pent-up gorge, to a wide and flat open valley running east 

 and with low hills along the flanks. Here and there to the south, I noticed 

 horizontal lines in the forest, at about (as far as I can recollect) 100 and 

 150 feet up, evidently wooded flat terraces. 



In some places the edge had fallen away and shewed a clay and sand 

 formation with ledded water-worn stones large and small, as though the 

 whole valley had once been filled up with this, ere the river cut down to 

 its present level, through the gorge we had passed. Presently we came to 

 the hut of some men out rubber cutting, who also had killed an elephant. 

 The usual bamboo pole and conical receptacles for offerings to the Nats, 

 was stuck up and the tail and one foot attached ; a little way off was a rough 

 platform covered with great lumps of meat being smoke-dried. I had to 

 stand to windward while some of the Singphus selected tit-bits in exchange 

 for opium. As the great irregular lumps of blackened flesh, were fingered, 

 and pawed about, and nodded over, at this jungli " exchange," I couldn't 

 help noticing that some of them looked quite as intelligent, as their owner's 

 face. Away all around behind him, what a view ! one fit for heaven more 

 than this earth ; yet this smoke-dried old fellow, though brought up there, 

 had probably never seen it. Had passed through life as an intelligent 

 vegetable. 



In about an hour after we met two Singphus, one with a gun, and in 

 answer, to the query " where from," the eldest replied " Khomong," which 

 I much doubted, seeing no trace of bag or baggage ; eventually after hear- 

 ing that I was not a Government officer come to haul him up for elephant 

 shooting, he admitted he was a rubber-cutter, out shikaring. I had guessed 

 something of the sort as he came up (with a conspicuous swagger, about 

 the legs). 



Soon we noticed an extremely level spur from the north, around which 

 they said the path and river lay, it became gradually quite a conspicuous 

 feature ; clouds, however, had covered in most of the ranges behind. At 

 last rounding this spur, we came out on the Dapha Pani and a very wide 

 grassy flat valley extending some miles towards the north and bounded on 

 the west by the spur abovenamed, while to the east extended all along the 

 side running north and south a very remarkable level and straight cliffy 

 alluded to by Wilcox when pas&ing there in 1827. It was so level and 

 straight as to be more like a huge railway embankment, and at a short 

 distance behind could be seen another. They extended thus for some 

 miles. We passed across the open level of the valley bottom, which was 

 all burnt ulu grass, and had stones and boulders rounded and polished 



