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19. On the 28th, leaving Colonel Tulloch to take the camp on to Solachu, I went up the hill to fix on the spot for our station. The hill was so long and broad, however, and so densely wooded, that I found it would be impossible, without weeks of labour in cutting, to establish a point there, and so went down to camp and endeavoured to find a spot near, from which all necessary points could be seen. I was fortunate in finding an excellent spot in the village itself, and succeeded in putting up our bamboo signal before nightfall, amid the merriment of the young women of the village, who seemed to think it an exceedingly comical erection. My only fear was that the villagers might object to its being put up among their houses, and destroy it after our departure. I promised the headman a small present on my return, if it was still up, and he said it should be carefully preserved, - a promise which I am happy to say he kept most faithfully. The Molotombia and the Solachu men go down to the plains frequently and work in the tea-gardens (a fact proclaimed by the number of old sola-topis which appeared to welcome us), and are comparatively civilised. The two villages are large, containing from 250 to 300 houses each, and belong to the so-called Dupdoria tribe. |
