1834.] along the Manipur Frontier. 125 



seven or eight feet high above it ; and through which my elephants 

 were obliged to break a passage for themselves. It possesses an ad- 

 vantage over the before-mentioned routes in a more abundant supply 

 of water. The whole of the hills throughout this route to the Ning- 

 thee are covered with a dense bamboo jungle, which grows to an im- 

 mense size. In that part of the last day's march where the road runs 

 along the bed of the Helaoo nala, there is a second road on the 

 bank just above, which is at present so overgrown with forest and 

 jungle as to be impracticable. Just opposite Helaoo, a large nala 

 called the Moo, Num-moo, or Muwa, falls into the Ningthee, in the 

 bed of which the Kubos tell me, gold is more abundant than in the lat- 

 ter : the Kubos also say that gold is found in the sands of all the small 

 streams which join the Ningthee on its eastern side. The road from Tum- 

 moo direct to Helaoo joins this one at about two miles distance from 

 the latter village : it is much shorter, but so very bad as to have ob- 

 tained the name of the " Noong-chongbi Lumpee," (stone-leaping 

 road:) loaded coolies can however manage to travel it. Some who left 

 Tummoo, the day after I left Khondong, with grain, arrived the day 

 before me at Helaoo, being only three days on the road. 



Halted the 23rd, 24th, and 25th January. Visited the cultivation, 

 which is extensive in proportion to the number of inhabitants. They 

 are now busily employed in transplanting their cold- weather crop : they 

 have two crops in the year, one in the rains, and one in the cold sea- 

 son ; the former is close to the hills, to which the annual inundation of the 

 Ningthee does not extend : the latter in the valleys, (if I may so call 

 them,) formed by the bends of the river, by which they are annually 

 overflowed, leaving large jheels on its retiring, that at the present time 

 of the year are sufficiently dried up to allow of their being cultivated. 

 On the evening of the 25th, went to see the process of washing the 

 sands of the Ningthee for gold: it occupied two men for about a quar- 

 ter of an hour, and the quantity found was about a grain troy- weight. 



The road from Helaoo to Mulphoo, about 36 miles, or four marches, 

 runs along the valley of the Ningthee, and might also be made available 

 for all military purposes : elephants have travelled the whole way from 

 Manipur. 



31st January. Sent my elephants and coolies round to meet me at 

 Sunayachil, intending to proceed myself to that place by water, as no 

 boats larger than canoes are procurable ; two of these fastened at about 

 four feet apart by small timbers, and a bambu platform laid over 

 the whole, form a raft sufficiently large to hold sixty men ; on which I 

 mean to proceed. A raft of this description would answer well to cross 

 troops, were boats not procurable. The current of the Ningthee, at the 

 q 2 



