| caption: |
Austin delayed by accidental fire which nearly destroyed the trig. station; feuding in Kigwemah |
| note: |
inaccurate spelling in the original text |
| text: |
18th January. Halted again as Austin was compelled to spend the night upon the mountains owing to one of the Manipuri Sepoys accompanying him having accidentally set fire to the jungle and very nearly burnt the station (trigonometrical) down, in consequence of which he had to move everything out of the way and as it was, some of the coolies got their clothes burnt in doing so. |
| text: |
This afternoon I received a deputation from the Khevemah clan of Kigwemah who came in to ask me to interfere on their behalf as they had just been turned out of the village by the Kiphomah clan owing to a family quarrel regarding some land claimed by two brothers Nitsokhre and Lhutsonin, the former and elder brother's cause having been espoused by the Kiphomahs whilst the latter and younger brother's part had been taken up by the Khevemahs. It appears they had a free fight yesterday when two of the latter clans got their heads broken and were driven out of their houses so that the fight which my Head Constable Bhoisaloo reported as imminent on the 8th instant has at last taken place. Of course I have told the Khevemah men that unless both clans will voluntarily lay their quarrel before me, I must decline to interfere. However, personally I cannot but regret that my orders forbid my taking any other course for otherwise I feel pretty confident I could get them to keep the peace, whereas as it is, these clans will now each form an alliance with some of the larger clans in their neighbourhood and this petty quarrel will thus develop into a bloodfeud which will last for years. |
