ASAM AND THE NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES. 441 



The elevation above the sea, marked by the barometer, is one thousand 

 eight hundred and fifty-five feet. If Bhammo be five hundred feet above 

 the sea, which would be equivalent to a fall of the river of eight inches 

 each mile, there remain one thousand and three hundred feet of fall in 

 the three hundred and fifty miles between this place and Bhammo, which 

 sufficiently accounts for the greater part of that distance being unnaviga- 

 ble, excepting for small canoes. 



Several observations during our stay, gave the latitute of Manche 

 27° 29" 16-5, and that of Phankai, the Rajas place, 27° 26" 13-6. 



Confined to the house by lameness, and unable to go abroad to 

 make researches, we were generally employed in entertaining a crowd 

 of visitors, who, without ceremony, and at all hours, mounted the steps 

 and sat themselves down in the hall, which was common to ourselves 

 and followers. 



I have already mentioned, that I received very unsatisfactory answers 

 to my questions concerning their history. I was induced to defer making 

 any notes on the subject at the suggestion of the Luri Gohain, who 

 reminded me that at Sadiya, I should meet with men equally capable of 

 giving the information, who would exercise no reserve in their communica- 

 tions. At Sadiya, however, my unfortunate illness prevented my prose- 

 cuting enquiry either on this or on many other points, which I had reserved 

 for greater leisure. With respect to their history, I can only notice here, 

 that the Khamtis are supposed to have been in possession of the country 

 from about the same time that Asam was conquered by another party of 

 their nation. They are Shams, and came from that part bordering on 

 Yunan and Siam. Whether or not they are, as Mr. Klaproth supposes, 

 of Tartar origin, I cannot pretend to decide ; but if they be, the period 



of their migration into the Sham provinces must be very remote, since 



r 3 



