| caption: |
wild dogs; bad behaviour of last year's survey party |
| note: |
inaccurate spelling in the original text |
| text: |
22nd December. Halted in order to try and get some shooting as well as to enable the coolies to cut a good path on to the "Borping". I was not very successful however in the shooting line. The most interesting thing I came across were 15 wild dogs of whose existence in the forest I had often heard but had never been able to verify. The Nagas and Mikirs both appear to have a most unaccountable dread of these animals and relate a queer story of their method of hunting down game. They say that as soon as the dogs see a deer or other animals feeding ahead of them they immediately circle round if and piss all over the bushes scattering the wine about with the aid of their long tails and then they drive it through these besprinkled bushes, contact with any portion of which has the effect of at once blinding the poor beast, when the dogs rush in and polish him off. Judging from outward appearance these dogs seem to be a cross between the wolf and fox. Whilst chatting round the Camp Fire last night I was very sorry indeed to hear that some of the Survey people seem to have behaved very badly up here last year. The Nagas of Karenka declare they never received payment either for the russud they supplied or for the coolies they furnished and speak very bitterly against them. I have no doubt that complaints are somewhat exaggerated though at the same time I feel equally sure there is a great deal of truth in what they say. It seems from their story that they could neither understand nor be [11] understood by "the Saheb" (or Sahebs for they state there were two) and that everything was managed by some native servant of theirs who of course cheated the poor fellows right and left. |
