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Abortive attempts by villagers to make Woodthorpe's party bypass their villages |
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(Very windy all morning from about 1 a.m. Fine day but cloudy at times with rain at 2 p.m. Road good and not very steep except up to Kerumechimi. Streams good. Min = 45o. Height of camp at 6.30 a.m. 5940/5700 M = 5820. Height of stream at 9.30 2800/2750 M = 2775. ditto Latesami 10 a.m. 210 houses 3560/3470 M = 3505. ditto 2nd stream 2060/2050 M = 2055. ditto Kerumechimi at 9 p.m. 80 houses 4260/4150 M = 4205.) |
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Started early for Latesami working by way. Villagers had cut road past the village and blocked up paths leading through it. Went on to open space and left Colonel time to collect coolies and receive rice etc. while I came through the village to work. Then on to Kerumechimi. Road rather stiff up from stream. Had tiffin in joom hut. Villagers brought down about 30 seers of rice. They showed us a new road cut under village but after following it for some little way we found ourselves in some jooms and brought to a standstill by jungle and tangled fence etc. I was angry at this as the Nagas apparently took us for children in thinking we should go on if we were shown a hundred yards of path and so went up to village at once, and finding two places for water, we encamped at the top of the village itself, taking a house for our messhouse and our tents being pitched outside. We saw very little of the villagers. (50) Outside one house were two tall bamboos each decorated with fringes of bamboo leaves and two tall tree trunks slightly carved. The bamboos swaying about in the wind kept up a sound like the creaking of cordage etc. on board ship. |
