MI8JIMEK MOUNTAINS. 



a false step or slip would be very dangerous, if not fatal. We came 

 suddenly on the B. pooter ; but as the place was not a good one for 

 crossing, we prepared to go a little higher up the stream, and though 

 the distance we had to go was not above 100 yards, yet as the river 

 side was impracticable, it became necessary to ascend and descend by 

 a most difficult path where a slip would have precipitated one into 

 the river sixty or seventy feet below. What rendered this passage 

 most difficult and dangerous, was the jungle which, while it caused 

 you to stoop, at the same time concealed your footing. It is one of the 

 characteristics of Mishmees, that they sooner risk their necks than 

 take the trouble of cutting down underwood. 



We have scarcely passed Thu-ma-thaya, so that the distance we 

 have travelled in a direct line from Deeling must be very small. The 

 stream of the Lohit is not forty yards broad, but the bed is about 

 sixty. It has the appearance of great depth, and roars along amidst 

 rocks in some places in fine style. 1 here picked up some small 

 branches of an elm, very like U. virgata ; the tree was too late to 

 reach fruit. I also gathered a fine Acanthacea, and some good 

 ferns. The north bank of the Lohit here has the same structure as 

 the south at the Koond, and is perpendicular. The water of the 

 Lohit is certainly much cooler than any of the mountain streams. 

 Vast blocks of rock, of many sorts, lie strewed on the south side ; 

 one in particular is quartzose, remarkable for the indentations on its 

 surface. I here gathered some mosses, and a good Marchantiacea, 

 very nearly allied to Octoskepos, but culiculate. Pandanus still con- 

 tinues, as also Marlea, Wallichia, Caryota, and Pentaptera. Passed 

 several streams, and a pretty fall, the water falling down a cliff al- 

 most perpendicular, about 100 feet high. The Mishmees use the 

 fibres and reti of Caryota as an ornament to their baskets, from which 

 it likewise keeps the rain. Wild plantain continues. Our encamp- 

 ment is on a fine bed of sand. 



Nov. 7th. — Rain throughout the night at intervals, and sharp cold 

 in the morning ; we left at 9 a.m. and arrived at our encampment 

 about 1^ p.m. The first part of our march was very difficult, it in 

 fact consisted of crossing a precipice overhanging the Lohit ; the dif- 

 ficulty was increased by the slipperiness occasioned by the rain ; no 

 one could pass some of the places unless aided by ratans fixed to trees, 

 etc. We came to the Sung river about 12 noon, but were delayed 

 some time in building a bridge. This river appears to me to be in 

 some places fordable, but the Mishmees say that it is not ; the water 



