| caption: |
marching through overgrown paths, injuries from panjis |
| text: |
After five hours marching the village was still not to be seen (231) but with the opening up of the valley we had a spectacular view of the main Patkoi ridge. Although some steep cliffs under which we had to pass would have provided an excellent opportunity for the people of Noklak to get unpleasant with us, there was not an enemy in sight. But around noon we came to the part of the trail which Chingmei could not clear. Now our speed slowed down considerably and soon the advance troop sent word to the back that we had to watch out for panjis. Painstakingly we made our way across the overgrown path yet three people were injured by panjis. One of them, a Chingmei man, had a panji sticking right through his foot but he did not seem to take this very seriously and he continued the march happily with an injury which would have immobilised any of us for days or perhaps weeks. Another Chingmei man is slightly injured and a sepoys calf is pierced by panji as well. The panjis were obviously freshly sharpened and no doubt had been set up for us. |
