Expeditions Among the Kachin Tribes on the North-East Frontier of Upper Burma Author(S): J

Expeditions among the Kachin Tribes on the North-East Frontier of Upper Burma Author(s): J. T. Walker Source: Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society and Monthly Record of Geography, New Monthly Series, Vol. 14, No. 3 (Mar., 1892), pp. 161-173 Published by: Wiley on behalf of The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1801533 Accessed: 03-05-2016 09:48 UTC

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This content downloaded from 134.129.182.74 on Tue, 03 May 2016 09:48:08 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms ENUEDITIONS AMONG THE KACHIN TRIBES, ETC, 161

The costume too, is quaitlt in the extreme, botll men and women dress in white, and an assembly of Koreans looks iIl the distance like a flock of swans. Once when at NVen-san harbour in the winter, I saw a lot of white objects surrounding the bay, which I took to be meIa, btlt on approaching I found they were really thousands of swans. The PPOESIOENT: MB Campbell is, I think, to be congratulated, not only upon havina drawn up a sery interesting paper, but also upon havina initiated a very interestina discussion. lf he did not succeed in reaching the top of the great White Mountain, he certain]y ditl succeed in traversing a large extent of country which had been visited by no European, and hc also succeeded in giving to the members of the Geographical Society a rery aCreeable esening. I do not think we can do less than thatlk him very cordially, and trust that he may have many further opportunities of adding to his knowledt,e, and, I hope, of communicating the knowledae which he has acquired, to this Societtr. Mr. CAMPBELL I eturIled tllanlSs.

Eczpedttions a:nzong the Kachzn .Tribes on the North-ecsst Frontzer of Uppex Burgna,

Compiled by General F. T. WALEER, C B., F.R.S., from tlle Reports of LieTltenant ELIOTT, Assistant Commissioner. Map, p. 204.

THE annexation of Burma has necessitated the geographical e2Qplora- tion of large areas of country which had never previously been visited by Europeans, and of which our knowledge has been generally of a very vague description, and frequently none at all. They ale mostly inhabited by tribes of irldependent races who welze never brought urlder the golrernment of the native rulers of Burma, and who paid allegiance only to such of their own chieftains as were strong enough to make their power felt and acknowledged. Frequently marauding parties issue from these regions into the districts which hase come under the administration oI the British Government, and then of course retri- butory expeditions have to be carried into their country, each of which usually furnishes its quota of new geographical information. OCCCI- sionally an e2zpedition is formed for the express purpose of gathering information regarding our little-known neighbours and their countra s to facilitate the general administration of the British provinces; and such avn expedition was sent from Bhamo northwards, along the banks of the Irawadi, at the end of last year. It was commanded by Lieut. Eliott, Assistant-Commissioner, who was accompanied by 3Iajor B:obday, an oflicer of the Indian Survey Department, and Lieut. Blewitt, of tha 60th Rifes, Intelligence Officer, and was escorted by a detachment of seventy military police, of the Mogaung Levy. The followingnotes are gathered from the reportsof Lieut. Eliott,

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and the map in illustlation is taken fiom the sheets of Afajor Eobda-'s survey. The expedition was formed at Senbo, about 40 miles above Bhanlo, and commenced its march on the 24th December, 1890, and on tlle 31st Oecember reached Myitk:,-ina, which place i.s the headquarters of a :Eayaing, and the hi$hest point on the right bank of the Irawadi to which our direct administration extends. Being the highest Shan village on that bank of the river, it was formerly the limit of the old Burmese rule; and there is a fair road thence westwards to Mogaunb, >7ia the Nanti Valle-, much used by the Chirlese traders to the jade and amber mirtes and the forests producing rubber, which is largelr estracted for foreign e2rport. On the Sth January, 1891, tlle expedition reached the confuence of the two prillcipal branches of the Irawadi, the Mali Kha and the 'Nmai Kha, of which the western river, the Mali Kha, descends from the Wanti Hills on the southern borders of the Zayul Valley of Tibet, while the eastern river, the 'Nnlai Rha, comes from sources which are still unknown, and follows a course of whith all but the lower pOl'tiOll iS still conjectural. The expedition continued its advance along the right bank of the Mali :Kha, over a route parallel to the river, a few miles to the west, whicll was bad and difficult to travel, but passed through a well popn- lated tract of country; tlle villages of Talang, Pulnwai, Supkha and Sit angkong were halted at in succession, and finally Tingsa, situated on a hill called Pumlumpum, which was reached on the lSth Januar. This was the northernmost point attained; it is situated in latitude 26? IS', at a distance by road of 57 miles from the confluence of the Mali liha and the 'Nmai :Sha, and 208 miles from Bhamo. From this hill Major Hobday obtailaed an excellent view of the country to the north, up to within a short distance of the southernmost points reached in the Kanti country br \'\ioodthorpe and MacGreg;or in the course of their expedition from Assam. The expedition returned southwards by the same route as far as Pumwai, and then turned down to the village of Sabaw on the Mali Sha, and, passing Warein, proceeded to the Kwitao ferry, by which the river was crossed in two days, with the aid of two small rafts and a Berthon boat. Then marching across the country between the two rivers, by way of the village of Seinman, in two days the expeditio reached the important and lnuch used ferry of Lekennoi, on the 'Nmai :[ha. Crossing the river here, the expedition marched down the left bank to the Saibak Taru ferry, and then proceeded via Maitompum to the Shan village of Maing;na on the left bank of the Irawadi, about two miles above ZIyitkyina on the opposite bank. This completed the frst and principal trip of the season. In the second trip the expedition started from Maigna, on the Sth

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Bebruary, and proceeded ill a north-easterly directioll to ascertain whether it would be possible to strike into the 'Nmai Eha Valley and explole it forsome distance northwards, though it was known that the inhabitants of the country vvere somewhat wild, and little hope was entertained that the small column xvould be able to make its way far northwards. The route taken +^Tas first over the plains to S:witu, and then eastwards, across two r&nges of hillsn to Lakapyang. lPrvm thence to the village of 'Nsentaru on the 'NInai Eha is only about fifteen miles, I)ut neither guides nor anv assistance to proceed further northwards could be obtaiIled, and it was not es:pedient to atteanpt the journey in face of the covelt hostility of the Sadon tribe who hold the country. Tllus the e;x:pedition turned southwards to Wangkatong, in the countr;sr of the Maran tribe, mrho were found to be very friendly, in striking contrast to their neighbours the Sadons. Thence, corLtilluing South- svards, in a few days the hamlet of Nachang was reached, fiom which .a fine view of the adjacent portion of the frontier between Burma and China was obtained Thence the e:x:pedition returned westwards, via liazu and Sampum, through a well populated countr,y, and reached XVaingmaw on the Irawadi on the 2Sth February. For the third trip the expedition started frozn Talawgyi, twenth llliles below Waingmaw, on the 8tll March, alld proceeding eastwards in four days reached Kuntaoyang, a Shan-Chirlese settlement of people from the Meungla Santa valleys of China just across the froutier. Hence a visit was paid to N;ngrong which is situated on the summit of a very steep hill called by the Kachins Shankatawt, or the lulace where the Shans turn b&ck. The whole of the larlge belongs to Sadon and Ssi tlibes, who were distinctly unfriendly. Rcturning to Euntaoyang the expedition proceeded southwards to Namsangyang, a fertile little ?lain where there is a Shan-Chiness settlement, and then to Manmaw, or " new village," a Shan-Burman village on the Upper l\Iole, which is llere a fine strealn; big boats reach Manmas in the rainy season, and there is a good trade on tlle river. Thence3 an excursion was made south-eastwards, over paddy plains aJnd up a very steep hill to Pumpien, ^^here a magnificent view of tlle frolltier was again obt3ined, the posi- tions of the head watels of the Mole and its chief tributaries bein$ clearly distingllishable up to within a rery few miles of their sources. From Puinpien the t2rpedition leturned westwards by a direct route a March.mere track hardlJr ever used-to Talaw, wllicll was leacIled on tlle 26th

The fourth trip was a short one to the south-east from Talaw, to fill and;in somethe Ta blanks Ping rivers. in the mappint, of the country between the upper DIole

The irldigenous inhabitants of the greater pOlstiOn of the country passed through in the course of these expeditions belong to various tribes of the great family of Eachins sometilues called Chingpaws,

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vhich has been corrupted into Singphos-which are scattered over a great portion of northern Burma. The Eachins are said to be descended from the Earengs, who occupied a region near the :Eanti country of the Northern Shans, which is said to have been the original home of the liachin race. The oldest descendants from this stock are said to be the Mariss, Ijataung, Lepei, 'Nkum and Maran tribes, the remaining clans being apparently of-shoots from the parent tribes at some later dateb The Eakus, or Kachins of the river sources, hold the country between the Elarao stream (about latitucle 26?18') and the Eanti country, in the Iali Kha Aialley and further mest. The prevalent tribes among the Kakus are the Maran, Lataung, 'Nkum, Mariss and Earine, the 'Nkums being the nlost powerful. Fornlerly eSvery Eachin village was zuled by an hereditary official called a Sawbwa; the villagers were obliged to cultivate his lands without coInpensation and were subject to many other imposts. These ta2res having become very onerous a revolution was started about twenty years ago and spread vertr rapidlJr, chiefly in the tract between the hIali Kha and the 'Nmai Sha rivers, which led to the murder or deposi- tion of a large nulnber of tlle Sawbwas and the apointment of certain headrnen, called Akyis or Salangs, in their places. 'rhe villages which are now without Sawbwas are called Kamlao ol "rebel" villages, in contradistinction to the others, which are Kamsa or Sawbwa-owning villages. The difficulty of a learcll through Wachin country is greatly enhanced if the people of the villages passed through have no Sawbwas and are Eamlaos and not Kamsas. With a hereditary Sawbwa, if he is friendly, no trouble need be expected from the villagers, but in a Kamlao village, which is practically a small republic, the headman, honvever well- aneaning he may be, is quite unable to control the actions of any badly disposed villager as the latter would strongly resent any restraint osl the part of the headmen on his liberty of action. The movement for the abolition of Sawbwas is believed tobe slowly extending to the north of the confluence of the two rivers, but it is doubtful whether it is really gaining; much ground, as certain Kachin villages near the Chinese *ontier are disgusted witll the new state of afEairs and the lawlessness involved tllereby, and are negotiating for the return of their Sawbwas, xvho, however, do not seem ansious to rejoin as they are not as yet certain of theil position. The most dense population of liachins lies to the north, mostly between the Mali Sha and the 'Nmai Sha rivers; there, too, the people are more independent than their kinsinen to the south, who have been more thrown among the Burmans and Shans. When the expedition passe(l through their villages they hardly exhibited any curiosity or alarm as to what must have loeen to them an entirely novel sight. They look upon the country as their own, and scout the idea of any intervention

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in their affairs being either possible or probable. Owing to the vicinity of the amber mines, amber ear-ornaments were very cornrnon, some quite three inches in length and narrow and cylinclrical in shape. Every little child carried a da. There are numerous Chinese settlements alaong the Eachin villages, those particularly to the east near the frontier. Even to the w est of the Alali Eha there are such settlements, as at the villages of DJarao Sata and Supsayang, which are situated a few miles to the north of Pumluinpum, the rnost northern point reached by the expedition: there a few hundred Chinamen are engaged in cutting trees for rubber, in making salt, and in gold washing. These men came very recently from Eayon and Sansi in China, at the invitation of a local Sawbwa; and they are examples of the steady manner in which the Chinese are pushing their way into the Irawadi valley, many similar instances being met with lower down the valley. The rubber they obtain is partly sent down the river to :Bhamo, but some of it is exported aeross country to China by a route which crosses the 'Nmai Kha at the 'Nsentaru ferry and then goes on to Sadon and Kayon. All traders going northwards to the Kanti country after crossing the Tura river, which joins the Mali Kha below Pumlumpum, are obliged +o give presents to the several Eachin Sawbwas on the line of route as a preliminary to being allowed to pass on. From Marao Sata upwalds the Kakus, or Kachins of the head waters, are met with, their country extending as far north as the Kanti plain. Round Kanti, to the east and north-east come the Kanong, Passu, and Naukmong tribes, to the north the Eamans, and to the north-west the Shangs. The Earines live east of the Mali Kha; they make das and sell them to tbe people of the Kanti country and on the borders of Assam. The lianongs lin e in the hig;h moulltains east of the Karines with whom they have a good deal of intercourse; they are noted for their skill at all kinds of iron-work. The Kanongs, I'assus, and Naukmongs give das, necklaces, and musk as tribute to W^Jabienla, the Shan Sawbwa of Kanti. The Kamans to the north of Kanti are said to wear rings through their noses. The Whangs are said to be the wildest raee of all, and not yet to have taken to elothes of any deseription. Beyond these tribes no information was fortheoming, other tllan fairy tales whieh peop]e the land with ghosts and witehes and other ereatures of the imagination. Coal vfas found on the east bank of the Mali Kha, at the Wata rapid, nearly opposite the village of Btarein, and also to the west of the Kron luountain which lies a little further east; the samples brought down prove it to be very similar to the eoal found in the Shan States and of an inferior quality to the Chindwin coal. Smallpox was raging at this time at several of the Raehin villages nolth of Maingna. On the appealanee of smallpox in a Kachin village, the people all promptly take to the jungle and leave the vietims of the

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disease to get on as they nlay. It is hardly sulplising, therefore, to learn that the mortality from this disease is excessively high. The village of K^^ritu, whicll was visited at the comlllencement of the second trip, is a Shan-Chinese village of sevent-eight houses, protected by the Sawbwa of Sagaung hill, and contains four households of protecting liachins. The Sawbwa aras axvay elephant hunting when the es- psedition arlived, but luade his appearance on the following day, when he was far from sober, and frankly acknowledginO the fact, said he would return in the evening. He was found very averse to giving guides or helping in any way, but after a time was induced to assist to the extent of supplying guides. He is a very important Sawbwa, hi,s territory e2ctendint, east to Lakapyang and west to the Irawadi. There is another very fourishing Shan-Chinese village called Loisawr, a few miles to the south. One of the features of the block of country lying to the east of the Ilawadi and north of Bhamo is the number of these Shan-Cllinese settlements. The Eachins encourage them to come over and treat them very fairly well as it is their interest to do, for the Shan-C:hinese are very industrious and cultivate large tracts of paddy land, thus ensuring the liachins from loss if their own vaungya or hill paddy crop turus out badly. They are much afraid of the liachins, and if the protecting Sawbwa is not xvilling to help a passing co]umn, thefr will give no assistance as they dread his vengeance. Their lot in China lnust be a hard one to make it woltll their wllile to settle in the plains on our side of the frontier, and sqbmit themselves to the caprices of a Kachin Sawbwa. It may be partially accounted for by the excessive tyranny and e2ztortions columitted by the officials in China on all who are not pute Chinese by birth, a point that has not been especially remarked upon by travellers irl West (:hina. This imlnigration of the Shan-Chinese into the plailas east of the Irawadi is steadily in- creasing, and should be greatl- for tlle benefit of the country, as theD,r are excellent subjects and should quickly develop this tract under a strong rule.

The system of lEachin protection is not confined to the Cllinese settlements; all the Shan villabes on the Irawadi and its main tributaries from the east such as the Nalntabet and the Mole Chaung- are under the protection of solue neighbouring Eachin Sawbwa. The Eachins do not tnake many demands on the villages they protect lest they break up, for they are useful to the Kachins as places where they can dispose of their rubber or other produce, and make purchases of salt and other requirernents. The protection lies in securing froln attacks by wandering bands of Kachins and in takinO precautions that the villagers are not kidnapped nor their cattle looted. Should any of these events occur, the protecting Rachins would attack the marauders if strong enoug;h, and if not would elldeavoul to secure restitution by ransonl or otherlvice. The sJstem is a very objectioll-

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-able one, but cannot be avoided unless the country is placed ullder British protection; no Shan or Shan-Chinese village can afford to be without its protecting }iachins, as otherwise life and propelty in the village would not be worth a monlent's purchase. If the arillagers disagree with their protectors and are unable to secllre others to assume their protection, their only course is to break up the village and settle in an adjoining protected village. Lakap) ang is the name given to a large tract of paddy-land watered by the Naln loi, Nam Ming, and Nam Lang streams, and cultivated by the Shan-Chinese settletnents of Manlning, Namlang, Salaw, and Manmugll. The Sawbwa who protects these villages is a brother of the Ewitu Sawbwa, and lives at the fort of Tungaw, on the Loi-Ngo hill, which is a very conspicuous landmark and can be seen for lniles around. The Tungaw Sawbwa's country extends as far as 'Nsentaru on the 'NInai Rha to the north. He refused to give guides to the country in this direction, and it was considered undesira.ble to proceed further in the face of the covert hostility of the people of the countrJr. Much of this opposition can be traced to Chinese influence; all along the frontier, from here doxvn to Bharno, the Chinese traders have acquired a preponderating influence, and they strcngly object to any attempts to gain information about thc country, as they look upon this as a preliminary to the country being opened up, which they are much averse to, fearing it may damage their trade prospects by introducing competition, or leading to the imposition of taxes, or to the suppression of smuggling which at present thrives unluolested. These Chinese traders belong to large and powerful syndicates and are generally wealthr men; they are most lawless in their ideas and snap their fingers at all authorit>. The Chinese officials just over the frontier either play into their hands or are treated as nlere dummies. The traders can afford to pay the Kachins well for allowing them to pass through their country on the way to and from the mines, and thus acquire great infltlence over the Kachins and can luore or less dictate their policy to them. On the march from Waillgmaw to Talaw, 35 lniles, the road the whole way led through vast paddy plains now uncultivated and interspersed with clumps of loose forest. E'orsnerly these paddy plains must have furnished the food supplies for the four large Shan cities of Waingmaw, Eakyo, Mainglllaw and Talaw, in their palm)T days; now these cities have degenelated into small villages, owing first to the depredations of a Burinese ariny which was sent to bring them under subjection some years ago, and subsequently to the attacks of the neighboulin$ Eachins. The whole of the range on which Ningrong is situated belongs to the Sadon and 'Szi tribes, who ale both distinctly unfriendly to us. They are powerful tribes, but the 'Szis seem to be gradually assimilated by the

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Chinese, who are steadil pushing their way into the country drained by the Irawadi, which properly belongs to Burma. The constant intertribal feuds aluong tlle Kachins render the task of the Chinese a comparatively easy one; whichever side is espoused by the Chinese must xvin the day and be afterwarels dependent on their goodwill for its retention of the supremacy. Namsangyang, lying to the west of the Ningrong range, is a fertile little plain, cultivated by a Shan-Chinese settlement under the protection of the 'Szis. It is at this point that the Chinese seem to be encroaching Inost lapidly, the probable cause being the vicinity across the frontier of the powerful Chinese settlement of 600 houses at Sama Pa, which is only a day's march over a good road from Ningpwot, and two days' journey from the Santa valley to the south-east. As the expedition was proceeding from Namsangyang over the Lailum hill, three Sadon villages were passed, at one of which the Sawbwa rushed out and objectecl to any one riding past his village; lle gesticulated wildly for a l()ng time, but finding that no one dismounted or took any notice of him he went home and did not appear again. At Pumpien the Panthay mule-clrilrers, after gettlng into camp, stupidly turnecl their mules to graze irl the paddy plains at the foot of the hill, with the result that three of the nlules srere stolen by the Kachins. The thieves were found to belong to a village on the Lailum hill, where the people had been somewhat insolent a few days previously. T+vo of the rnules were brought back on the following day, but the third llad been taken into China, whence it was eventually recovered, probably by theft, and brought down to Bhamo solne weeks afterwards. The Wachin hills are, as a rule, extremely rugged, consisting of ranges averaging betwfeen 2000 and 3000 feet high, with intervening valleys rhich are generally xery confined, and rarely more than a couple of miles wide, but are highly fertile and as a rule well cultivated. A good deal of opium is grown locally, nearly every village having its little patch of poppy cultivation; but the local output does not nearly meet the demand, and a great deal if not the bulk of the opium is bougllt, soznetimes from passing Chinese traders, but more frequently the Kachins make a little trip across the frontier and purchase the article for thelll- selves at one of the Chinese outlying villages. Considering the enormous amount that is written about the deleterious effects of the drug, it is surprising to find that the Kachins do not sufEer in any way from its continued use, being physically a very wiry race, capable of standing a great amount of fatigue and hardship, and being quite unaXected by the very rapid and malked changes of temperature that distinguish these hills. - A road might easily be nwade froln Bhaulo to a point above Senbo, to aloid the dangerous passage of the upper defile in the river durillg the

This content downloaded from 134.129.182.74 on Tue, 03 May 2016 09:48:08 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms ON THE NORTIX-EAST FRONTIER OF UPPF,R BURAT=t. 169 rains. It would lie through plains the whole way. It has already been roughly opened up as far as Teinthaw, on the Mole Chaung, and might be eontinued through Theinlo and Manpang to Shwe-in, at the mouth of the Mogaung river. This route would be cireuitous, but would have tbe advantage of passing through some villages; plenty of labour for its eonstruetion eould he obtained in the eold weather from the ret,ular workimmiglation at this ofseason Shan-Chinese of the yeal. who eome aeross the frontier in search of

The Eaehin eountry is largely eovered with forest, but only a very little teak was obsetved, generally in small clumps along l;he headwaters of the minor strealns diseharging into the Irawadi. Of late years there has been a marvellously rapid disappealanee of the rubber tree throughout a great portion of these hills, and without some proper system of eonservation it is feared that the rubber trade will suffer great redue- rubber.tiOIlS after a few more trears owing to the diminishing out-turn of

Every year more and more Kaehins are being ousted froln their homes in the uplands, owing to the pressure of the population behind them, and are settling themselves and taking up new lands in the provinee of Burma. These liaehins, and the Shan-Chinese settlements they proteet, do not as yet pay any revenue to our Government, though they are inextrieably mised up with Burmese Shans who do. On every ground of justiee and expedieney it seems advisable to insist on the payment of the eapitation tax btr all liaehins, Shan-Chinese and others who are not aetually living in the hills, and thus to plaee them on the same footing as the adjoininb Shan villages. It is but too evident that the present system eneourages the liaehins to think but lightly of a power that has not Jet assessed them to taxation, and it is this misguided idea of our xveakness that gives a stimulus to the many troubles always fermenting Chineseon the agitators.frontier, and that furnishes a powerfu] weapon in the hands of

An important point for eonsideratioll is how the exaetions of the Raehins on passing travellers, whieh at present so greatliy datnage the prospeets of any development of internal trade, may best be done away with. These extortionate demands have practically stopped all traffic with the Kanti country to the north, and every highway to China lies for some distance through the liachin hills, which means that the price of every article carried through is so much increased, as practically to upprohibit were thesethe opening imposts ofto manybe removed. minor trades which would probably spring The Eachins living in the hills athwart the trade routes seem to be undergoing a downward tendency since all the struggle for e2tistence has ceased. Formerly they were a fine race, and they certainly proved themselves much the better men of the two in their contests with the Burmese Shans, which have caused the latter to withdraw from the

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interior of the district and maintain a precarious existence ill the villages on the Irawadi; but since that time all inGentive for any esertion has been taken away from the liachins. With his Shan-Chinese settlement at the foot Qf his hilla the Eachin need not fear starvation, and his few lvants are more than met by the proceeds of the blackmail he levies on travellers Undel these circumstances, with all stimulus b1 work reluoved, these Sachins on the trade routes are bound to degenerate, and Symptolus of demolalisation seem to be already setting in. As the country is taken up it will be interesting to watch how these Kachins will adapt themselves to the changed conditions of life, and whether they will be able to resume honest work again, or will simply clrift into inconigible vagabonds. It rnust be remembered that the above rematks do not apply to the :Kachin race generallys but only to the large section that ale found con-- trolling the various trade routes throughout the Bhamo district. The liachin population is very large indeed, and seems to have been greatly ander-estimated thele is great xitality im the lacei and their rate of inerease has been very rapid. Unlike many other xvild tribes there appears no probability of theisr ever dying out from contact with civil;- sation. rl'le quick manIler in which they are pushing their way down fro:n the north and spreading out over the country is deserving of serious attention. It is within the memory of men still living when the hills east of Bhanzo were inhabited by Palaunts) and it is ouly within the last twenty years that the Eachins further encloaehed into the Ira wvadi aralleJr. Their rate of progression in thc Moganng subdivision7 west *f the Irawad;} has been equally lapid. These Macts are most- suggestive and speak for themselves. As regards the large bodies of Chinese who cross tll& river to artd fro between China and the jade mines and rubber region,, it may lbe said that they forlll a ter; real menace to th3 safety of the WIogaung subdivision; tlley all represent themselves as tradels but they a1e lelieved to smuggle liquor largely, and the contents of the ?ackages conneyed by theil caraarans are unknonvn to the local oflicials, except in so far as the headluall of the caravan may enlighten them. Lalge bodies of the lowest Chinese could be rapidly passed across the river for vIn- lawful purposes without the least information being forthcolaing fron the local riverine officials. Lieut. Eli.ott makes no mention of the oustonis, dwellings, dress, religion &;c. of t.hs Kachins, but says they will be found very well described by Dr. Anderson (who frola his proloIlged detention in the iXiachin Eills had ample opportunities of studyingr them at leisure)} in his book ' Mandalay to Xomein7 Lieut. Eliott adds that it would be a very great advantage if all the available inbrmation concerning the Kachin clans, siewed ethnographically could be collected from the four distriets-Bllaulo, Eatha, RubyUMines (including Momaik)) and the

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Northern Shan States in shich Wachins are generally found, and if all this information could be summarised into one report, to be circulated among the different districts concerned, and kept up to date by correc- tions and additions of new informatioil. This would allow of the Wachin race being treated as a who]e, and not piecemeal according to the arbitrary distinctions of district boundaries which do not correspond witll the distribution of the tribes, so that at present half of a clan in one district may be on good terlus with the Govelnnnzent whilst the other half in an acljoining district may sufier from operations svhiPh llave to be carried on there. This unsettles the Kachins, who do llot understand it, and callses a good cleal of unrest which may reach through the neighbouring

COUlltl'57. As regards tlle direct geographical reslllts of the expedition, all nenr grotlnd passed over and much of the adjoining country was surveyed ana mapped out with laore or less accuracy, and a good deal of the reg;ion beyond was mapped from natie informatiort to a distance de - pending on the advantages o:Sered by the points of view. The hill at Pumlllmpum, the furthest point on the Mali Kha river, gave an excellent comlnand of the country to the north, to ^vithin a short distance of the region already surveyed from Assam by Colonel WVoodthorpe, the inter- velling hills being low and insignificant. AIajor Hobday says of the map that " the avhole must be treatecl as a leconnaissance. As we were marching for weeks together, often with a nrall of forest on either side of the path, this rendered triangulation ancl survey in detail impossible; but acl+Jancing as we were from south to nortll along a meridian, the X ork was vrell checked by careful observations for latitucle a.t every other camp, whilst points in our rear always assisted us in deternlining our longitudes. The total area thus reconnoitred is roughly 3GOO square miles, on the scale of four miles to the inch, to which may be added some 10()0 square miles mapped by Sub-surveyor Sher Shah, who accompanied Lieut. Burton's force into the Kachin Hills east of Bhamo, so that we now possess a fair kno+X-- ledge of the frontie.r fiom the 24th to the 2Gth parallels of latitude." There is an absence of all reliable il:lformation regarding the head waters of the 'Nmai liha. The Kaclwills seem never to go there as the- country is so wild and lDleak. There does not appear to be any trade at all, and the rilrer is probably a furious mountain torrent, dashing through profound gorges, and impracticabie even for rafts of the lightest kina. This tract of country seems destined to remain for a long time- unknown, as the obstacles to any lllovement through it to any distance north seem well nigh insuperable. The expedition halted at the confluence of the Mali :@ha alld the 'Nmai Sha for three days 3rd to Sth January-during which Lieut. Blewit took some rough measurements for ascertaining the volumes of the two rivers. The results gave 33,500 cllbic feet per second for the

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'Nmai Eha and 23,000 for the Mali Kha. The temperattlre of the forluer river was found to be S? to 6? colder than that of the latter. Major Eobday believes the course of the 'Nnlai Kha to be not Inuch longer than that of the Mali Eha, and he thinks that the 'Nmai Kha cannot receive the Lu river of Tibet, which he believes must be the source of the Salwin river. Further evidence to the same effect is given by Lieut Eliott, who, after quoting MacGregor's narrative of Woodthorpe's tlip wherein it is stated that there are two rivers east of Kanti, the Nam Tisan and the Phung DIai says there can be no question that the Phung Mai is the 'Smai iIiha in its upper reaches; the Kanti Shans expressly ca]led it the eastern branch of the Irawadi, and the great similarity of the nanles, which (stripped of words signifying stream or water) are Dumai, Phung Alai, and 'Nmai, tends to show the identity. Tlle depth given by the lianti Shans would also accord with the probable depth of the 'Nmai liha in that latitude; they describe it as not deep but not fordable, or somewhat deeper than the Mali Kha in the same latitude. Besides this, the distance flom the Kanti country east to the Phung Mai is said to be nine marches, or in a straight line about 45 lniles, which would approxi- leately correspond with where the 'Nmai-E:ha valley must be, if we assume that the Lu river is the source of the Salwin. l'he liantis also said there were two or more big rivers to be crossed before reaching China, and these would obviously be the Lu and the Lan Ts'ang or Mekong. Little doubt can now lernain says Lieut. Eliott-that the Lu is identical with the Salwin. Colonel Yule, in his introduction to Gill's 'River of Golden Sand,' states that the chief ground for dis- crediting the length of the course of the Salwin and its Tibetan origin nvas its comparatively small body of water, and adds that this may be due to its restricted basin. Lieut. Eliott says that all the information they could collect tends to confirm the truth of this reasonillg; and that as far as we know all the water up to within a few miles of the Salwin falls into the Irawadi drainage; it is the vast discharge of the latter river, combining the Mali Kha, 'Ntnai Kha and Chindwin areas, that makes it develop so rapldly into a noble river, and the same reasoning will tend to make us look not very far for the sources of the river. It is doubtful if the 'Nmai :Kha or nlain stream of the Irawadi has any source higher than 28? 30'. Yule calls the east branch of the Irawadi the Chitom, Shete, Ellts'kiang and Khinshi Ho. These are the Tibetan and Chinese names, and as all the inforluation obtained by Lieut. Eliott was from purely Kachin sources, he was unable to identify the river under any of those names

It has already been shown by General Walker in his paper, " The Lu river of Tibet; is it the source of the Irrawaddy or the Salwin ? " which was published in the ' l'roceedings ' of this Society for June, 1887, that doubt was first thrown on the long accepted opinion that the Lu

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river is the source of tlse Salwin by Herr Loozy, the geologist attacheel to C!ount Szechenyi's expedition to WYestern Ghina and Tibet, wllo crossed the Salwin a little below the 2Sth parallel, on the road from Talifu to Bhamo; he maintains the Salwin to be too illsignificant to have its sources far off in the heart of Tibet, and therefore that the Lu river must be the source of the Irawadi. Up to the present tillle we do not possess any certain inforrn&tion regarding the course of the Salwin above the 2Sth parallel, nor of that of the 'Nmai Kha above the 26th palallel, nor of that of the Lu river of Tibet below the 28th parallel. There is thus a large area of wllich the geography is .still unknown, tsen in its faintest outlines; it presents (1 :field of investigation fol ?uture explorels; but until it has lJeen explored thele can be no certaintJr whether tlle Lu river is the source of the Irawadi or the Salwin.

VieuSs tn Ctrcassict, wit16 l\Totes by the late Adntiral SZGmAreZ BrOGD.

THERE are probably many even many Fellows of the Royal Geog,raphical Society -who would be puzzled to say oShand in *rhat part of the Caucasus is-or was- Circassia. The common blunder by which Schamyl, thc hero of Daghestan, has been turned, in AVestern Europe, into a Circassian, is unfairly misleading. The home of the Circassians lefore they left it for the Turkish dominions- was, rouahly speaking, the Caucasian ranCe west of Elbruz, excluding Abkhasia- the coast lands about Sukhum Kalell. Of recent years this reaion has been but little explored by Englishmen. Mr. Craufurd Grove touched only aB corner of it, Mr. Phillipps Wolley another corner. Mr. and Mrs. Littledale have recently sojourned in its forests in pursuit of big game, bllt no accollnt has yet been published of their experiences. The forests of the Zelenchuk are still the abode of the aurochs, or wild bull, of mat,nificent deer and countless chamois. About and before the time of the Crimean War, Circassia was freqllented bs- Englishmen with poGitical motives. The volumes of Spencer, Bell and Longworth are full of curious matter, though sadly wanting in topographical details. It is to the same period that the sketches lately shown in our rooms belong. Captain, afterwards Admiral, Saumarez Brock was sent on a political mission among the thelL still independent tribes, and made good use of his pen and pencil to record tlle features of their countly. He gives, of course, but an imperfect picture; there i2 much left to be discovered the snowy crest3 of the central chain, which even west of Sukhum Kaleh reaches a heiCht of 10,600 feet, the strange remains of earlv races buried in the forests. There is probably no tract of country so near Central Europe so little knourll. The pictures shown in the Society's Rooms were esecuted by an Italian artist, S. Bossoli, from the Admiral's sketches. It may be hoped that they may ir- stigate some adventurous holiday-maker to give to the Western Caucastls a share of the attention that has been frcely bestouzed on the central portion of the chain. The notes Admiral Saumarez Brock wrote to illustrate them are still full of interest, and they will be serviceable if they stir up some travellers to fully investigate the park-like uplands and 06ooded crests of the western spllrs and the crlacier-clad peaks No. III. M^Rau 1892.] O

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