| caption: |
difficulty getting rice supplies |
| note: |
inaccurate spelling in the original text |
| text: |
20th March. We struck our tents this morning with the intention of refilling our empty rice bags at Laisen and then proceeding on and encamping in the valley of the Iril, but on getting to the village all the rice we could get there was 30 seers and this after the very greatest difficulty, and as we have only enough to last us for another 24 hours we determined to return back to last night's camp and send off a special messenger to Thomson. My Dubashas, two of whom can speak Manipuri fluently, declares that the Nagas have received strict orders they are not to sell anything to the Sahebs or they will be severely punished, and the two Manipuri Subadars when called upon by me to insist in getting rice said that they had not received any orders to do so and could not therefore help me and so back we came and to our delight found that Thomson and the Thongal Major had just arrived with lots of rice so we are all right again now. The latter of course indignantly repudiates the idea that any orders forbidding the Nagas supplying us with rice had ever been issued. |
