| caption: |
extracts of a letter from a member of the survey party [Godwin-Austen] |
| text: |
On the 21st, attended by Butler, I ascended Tellizo, and observed angles there. On our return in the evening, we were not a little surprised to learn that a Munipur force, said to be about 200 men with 400 coolies (Kukis), under a Major, were on the other side of the range above us, and had looted a village or two. The report had come in, and been given by a woman who had bolted from Gaziphima, and men of a place, Razami, had come on to our camp with the news. This advance beyond the watershed was the more surprising, as only a few days previous a letter from the Raja to Colonel M. Thomson had been received (in reply to a call on him for an escort to survey the line of this main watershed), stating that, owing the crippled state the Lushai expedition had left him in, and the heavy calls for repairs of Cachar Road, he could not afford any further expense, and declined giving an escort. Yet at the very time this was written, a force was marching into the very same ground we were to go over; thus the anxiety to prevent our further progress eastward. The Raja, moreover, is bound to let the Political Agent know the destination of any armed force he may send to his frontier. However, what we heard was a mere rumour, which we could not prove without going across the range. So on the 22nd it was decided to go back a short way west, and settle the matter of coolies and guard with Roma Sing, and make other arrangements for proceeding eastward. We marched to Sikhami, and halted there. |
