236 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society . [July, 



cross to Hookoong for jade and amber, but of late years, owing 

 to war between the two classes, the trade has been restricted to 

 the abstainers from pork. It is to be remembered that the route 

 across the Patkoi by the Nongyang Lake is no new scheme now 

 brought to notice for the first time. Thirty-five years ago, atten- 

 tion was directed to this same route by Captain Charlton, then 

 commanding the troops on this frontier, who is known to fame as 

 the first man to discover the tea plant in British India. Captain 

 Charlton writes — his letter will be found in the Journal of the Asia- 

 tic Society for January 1835 — " What a pity there is no means of 

 communication between Suddya and Yunnan. A good land road, 

 and there are no natural obstacles of any consequence to prevent it, 

 would afford an outlet for British merchandise into the very heart 

 of China." As the Singfoos of Hookoong trade with Yunan and 

 with Assam, it cannot be disputed that Captain Charlton was right 

 in asserting that no physical obstacle exists to prevent a thorough- 

 fare from being established the whole way. 



It has been urged with some plausibility that the Singfoos are so 

 poor and so simple in their habits, that they do not want better 

 communication with other countries, because they could reap no 

 benefit from freer intercourse. It is true that their wants are few ; 

 but some of these wants are very ill-supplied, as in the case of 

 salt for instance, which is very bad in quality and very dear through- 

 out Hookoong j besides, the bulk of the population engage in some 

 kind of barter when not occupied in cultivating, and a people of 

 this kind would not be likely to oppose the opening of a road, 

 because they are capable of seeing that the measure would prove to 

 their advantage. 



But whilst the people themselves may be trusted not to oppose 

 their own interests, it must be admitted that some difficulty lies in 

 the fact that nearly all their Ghams are large slave-holders, and 

 suffer heavily and constantly from the escape of their slaves across 

 the border into British territory. All the Chiefs feel a great deal of 

 irritation against us on account of the extreme abolitionist policy 

 that has been adopted of late years. Still, considering the magni- 

 tude of the question, it will hardly be said that the cost of indem- 

 nifying a score or so of petty Chiefs for the loss of their slaves 



