392 



Captain Hannaifs Route 



[Oct. 



of European intelligence— the latitudes of the principal towns be- 

 tween Ava and Muvgkliong have been ascertained by astronomical ob- 

 servation with a degree of accuracy sufficient for every purpose of 

 practical utility, and they may now be regarded as established points, 

 from whence inquiry can radiate in every direction with a confidence 

 which the most zealous and enlightened investigators have been 

 hitherto unable to feel in prosecuting their researches, from the want 

 of a few previously well-determined positions at which to commence 

 or terminate their inquiries. 



To an act of aggression on the part of a Singpho tributary of Ava 

 against a chieftain of the same clan residing under our protection, are 

 we indebted for the opportunity of acquiring the information now 

 gained, and the feud of two insignificant borderers may prove the im- 

 mediate cause of a more intimate communication than had ever previ- 

 ously existed between our recently acquired possessions in Assam and 

 the northern provinces of the Barman empire. 



The Bisa and Dupha Gaums are the heads of two clans of Sing- 

 phos, occupying the northern and southern faces of the chain of 

 mountains, which forms a lofty barrier between Ava and Assam. The 

 former chieftain, on our conquest of the latter country, tendered his 

 submission and was admitted within the pale of that feudatory depend- 

 ence which many other tribes of the same clan had been equally 

 anxious to enter;— he was uniformly treated by the local authorities 

 with great consideration, and was located at the northern foot of the 

 Pathoi pass leading from Assam to the Hukong valley. Between this 

 chieftain and the Dupha Gaum a feud had existed long previous to 

 our assumption of the sovereignty of the country; and the latter, at 

 the close of the year 1835, headed a party, which crossing the moun- 

 tains from the Burmese province of IJukotig, entered Bisa, the resi- 

 dence of the chief of that clan, and after ravaging and plundering 

 the village, sealed their atrocity with the indiscriminate murder of 

 all the inhabitants that fell into their hands. The circumstances were 

 made known to the British Resident at the Court of Ava ; inquiry 

 was demanded, and security required against the recurrence of simi- 

 lar acts of aggression. A deputation from the capital was ordered 

 to the Burmese frontier for the purpose of instituting the necessary 

 investigation, and Colonel Burney, the enlightened representative of 

 British interests at that court, failed not to avail himself of the oppor- 

 tunity thus unexpectedly afforded, of attaching an officer to the mis- 

 sion; and Captain Hannay, who then commanded his escort, was 

 selected for the duty. 



