| caption: |
surveying curtailed through lack of interpreters |
| text: |
42. Further exploration of this valley was not to be thought of, for, in the absence of interpretation, we should probably have become involved in further hostilities; and, moreover, to do the work satisfactorily, we should have been detained at least a fortnight longer in those parts; a delay which, in the face of the Chief Commissioner's instructions, I did not feel justified in incurring, as we had then already been a fortnight away from postal communications. Therefore, on the 23rd March, we left Okha, and passed through Yakchung and Yanghum. Here they were very friendly, and several young fellows accompanied us to our camping-ground and encamped near us during the night. The following morning we mounted a steep hill to Afang, where we were again well received, and thence through Achung, Lungching, and Chua, all large villages, to a small stream, where we encamped. Chua is most curiously situated, its upper portion overlooking a precipice, the rest being built on such steep sloping masses of sharp stratified rock as to make walking in boots an exceedingly dangerous operation. The path, on entering the village, runs for some distance along the edge of the precipice, which is broken away in many parts, necessitating a light roadway of bamboo matting, in other places the low eaves of the houses threaten to push the passer-by over the cliff. |
