1883 ] S. E. Veal—^ofes of a trip up the Dihing. 47 



Hardly one of the men, and none of the women had ever seen a 

 European before, so I was considerably and closely criticized. Many 

 brought over daos to exchange for salt, to carry which specially some of 

 these strong girls had been brought over, and were to take back 2 maunds 

 each, i. e., ISOibs., all seemed in good spirits, however, and soon after waded 

 the river again, and pushed on faster than we cared to follow. By slow but 

 steady walking we at last got to " Pen" gaon, by about 3 p. m. and found 

 that our men had failed here in getting rice, which was at famine rates, 

 and had gone on to Bishi, where we followed, and camped at about 4 P. m. 

 having done from near Dapha Pani, in two days, what took four in going 

 and in a pinch might perhaps be done in one, if certain of the road. Of 

 course we here got plenty of rice, vegetables, &c., which mainly we were 

 short of. Some old fellows, and one who could speak Asamese, came to 

 enquire how we had got on, and confirmed a good deal I had heard as to 

 routes, &c. It seems the Dapha Gam, when he fled from Bishi, went to 

 the site we had passed at Nchong bum, and was there some time, but his 

 unruly habits and raidings obliged us to follow him up with the " Singphu 

 expedition" and he then fled to the Mbong Yang to be safe. He was, how- 

 ever, dislodged from there by a party under native oflicers (Lola Sing 

 Sylhetia) the Europeans being I hear, wounded en route near Bishi and 

 Miao, and at last decamped for Hukong via Khomong, from whence there 

 is a route into upper Turong. 



It is said that for some time, the cattle that had belonged to the Gam 

 and his people, ran wild, and even had been seen not many years ago, I 

 could get nothing certain as to this, and doubt there being any now with 

 jMishmis, and rubber-hunters all through the hills. 



Early next morning we packed up and I made some small presents, an 

 electro-mug to the Gam, assortment of needles, tapes, and such, to his wife, 

 &c. The load-men I paid, Rs 6 each for the trip of about eleven days, 

 and gave them some opium in, I should like to have been able to be more 

 liberal, but there are many incidental expenses connected with an expedi- 

 tion of this kind that swell the sum total, to no small amount ere all is 

 over. What would be considered extremely moderate, by Government, or 

 to any subsidised expedition, may be heavy on any single individual, espe- 

 cially when no return in the way of profitable trade is yet possible. 



Passing west for Loang village we first saw the site where these Sincr- 

 phus devoted offerings to their demons or nats. It was a picturesque site 

 among some tall Jutuli trees that threw a more or less mysterious shade 

 on the cleared space below, where there was a house some 330 x 12, of 

 the usual kind, and the skulls of buffalo here and there tied to the tree 

 stems, as relics of the feasts and offerings. Singphus are grossly supersti- 

 tious, and their entire belief seems to consist in a series of demons who 



