386 MEMOIR OF A SURVEY OF 



fatigued, that between each tug he makes a long pause ; accidents are sel- 

 dom known, and I understand that they take care to renew the canes at 

 least every three years. 



Latterly, we descended to the edge of the river, and passed along its 

 enormous boulders, rather by leaps than steps. The great mountain from 

 opposite Hiding's, still continued with us, on the opposite banks ; but 

 from our halting place it receded where the Halt river separates it from 

 a new succession of hills of a different character, and the part of the great 

 mountain we saw was completely clothed, towards the top, in firs. The 

 green grass-covered hills now succeeding, have many firs growing singly 

 even near the level of the water, and they are striped sometimes, from the 

 summit to the base, with fir forest. On the rather wide stony sand bed 

 where we halted, we found drafted pines, and enjoyed the fine odour of 

 the fresh turpentine. The river, for one or two hundred yards above the 

 Hali, is so calm, that I was induced to bathe in it, and the consequence 

 was, that my teeth chattered for two hours, in spite of the bright blazing 

 fires of our fine pine faggots. The rock was almost inclined enough forward 

 from the perpendicular, to save the necessity of building, and our huts were, 

 consequently, very soon erected. In the evening, immediately after cooking, 

 all the Khamtis were most busily employed in piling up conical heaps of 

 sand for altars, round each of which a little trench was made. The Luri 

 Gohain acting as high priest, advanced before the highest, and muttered a 

 long prayer for our success on the journey, and concluded by placing a bunch 

 of flowers in the apex of the cone, and strewing the trench with offerings 

 from his ready-cooked meal. There was not the appearance of a village 

 on either side of us. We seemed to be quite solitary, but during the 

 evening several labourers passed us, who told us their houses were near 

 on the cliffs above. All the rock on our route was homblend and 

 greenstone. 



