ASAM AND THE NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES. 343 



start with them, when the Paste Abors made their appearance from the 

 opposite bank, renewed the business of haranguing, and, after a long 

 debate, turned the tables against me. My Menbu and Bar Abor friends 

 now insisted that till we restored the M'iris to their former places, at the 

 mouth of the Dibong, they could not, and would not venture to introduce 

 us among their tribes. I was thoroughly convinced of the truth of my 

 accounts of the impossibility of navigating the river more than one or two 

 day's journey within the hills, and thought it would be folly even to 

 attempt this, with the small guard I had, against the wishes of the Abors; 

 it might be the means of defeating all future attempts. 



I was now some time inactive at Sacliya, doubtful whether it were not 

 better to return to Siibanshiri, even with the poor prospect I had of success 

 there. 



In the S. E. quarter, Captain Bedford was present, with the Rang- 

 pur Light Infantry, to pursue his researches wherever practicable. I had 

 communicated with him, and found that he considered me as interfering 

 in some degree with his researches, and as he expected to return imme- 

 diately, I thought I was obliged to accede to his request that I would leave 

 the eastern branch of the Lohil, the Brahmaputra, and the far-famed 

 Kuncl for his investigation. 



Amongst other visitors who were attracted to Sadiya by the good reports 

 which began to be spread of the English character, was the Luri Gohayn, 

 brother of the Sadiya Chief. He had taken alarm on Lieutenant Burl- 

 ton's first visit, and fled from his flourishing villages, in the neighbourhood 

 of Sadiya, to take refuge in the wild jungles below the eastern hills, from 

 the anticipated ill treatment of the Europeans. I found this man more 

 communicative and better informed than the natives with whom I had 

 had intercourse, and I soon arranged a plan with him for visiting his 



