402 MEMOIR OF A SURVEY OF 



malignant demon : for they assert that any one who should attempt to 

 pry into the secrets of his dwelling on the summit, would surely die, 

 as they know from experience. 



It was not a little remarkable, that though the Abors are said to be the 

 source whence the strange tribes of the Sri Lohit are derived, we heard 

 nothing about it from them; on the contrary, their geographical ideas are 

 reasonable enough ; they declare the Dihong to come from a very great 

 distance, and that it can no where be crossed but by boats or rafts, being 

 always too wide for a cane bridge. The Lama country, with which they 

 have intercourse, is situated on the right bank of the river, evidently, 

 because after crossing it from E. to N. to reach the Reega tribe, they 

 entirely lose sight of it in their progress to the N.W. 



While on the subject, it may be as well to allude at once to informa- 

 tion derived from other sources, particularly from another tribe more to 

 the westward. It is said that one route to the Lama country is by the 

 Kalapani (or black river), which falls in beyond Meyong; it is followed up 

 to its source, and then some snowy mountains are crossed to the inhabited 

 country. Chokis are there placed, and they cannot visit the interior; 

 but the town where they exchange commodities, is situated on the south 

 bank of a very large piece of water, which, as they speak of a feature 

 in it so very remarkable to them, of its "having no current," must be a 

 lake. The Governor of the town is named Gendu, and he wears a shirt 

 of mail, and rides a horse— so they say. They insist that the Dihong 

 has nothing to do with the lake, and they conclude it to be distant from it. 



Here we have, apparently, the origin of the strange reports current in 

 Asam, to which allusion has been made, of the large and magnificent 

 river ; or what is quite as likely in my estimation is, that we derive our 

 story from those tribes who are in contact with the Bhotiyas on the west, 



