| caption: |
Butler insists that Manipuris leave Paowi; Thomson finds that they have stored rice there and when he refuses to let them take coolies without paying, they burn rice |
| note: |
inaccurate spelling in the original text |
| text: |
2nd April. This morning I visited the site of the Thana and told the Nagas to send me word across the hill if the Manipuries attempt to cross the watershed again, and finding some of the Manipuri sepoys still in the village I wrote off a pencil note to Thomson asking him to see that they all turned out before he left the village, and on reaching camp I learned from him that before he left the village he insisted upon personally seeing every Manipuri turn out. That he found they had about 20 maunds of rice stored up in one of the houses in the village and it was on this account they had been delaying. That they wanted him to consent to their pressing some coolies out of the village to carry this gratis but on his refusing to allow them to take a single coolie unless they paid them at the rate of 4 annas they burnt the whole of the 20 odd mounds of rice notwithstanding his most urgent remonstrance and advice that if they could not carry it away they had better by far give it to the Nagas. The only answer Thongal would say to this was "such is not the custom of the Manipuries". |
| text: |
We moved camp today to one of the slopes close to the watershed below the village of Kuchaikhulel. Enroute it came on to rain hard and the latter portion of our march through the rice fields (terraces) covered knee deep with water and slush was miserable work and very likely to lay some of us up. |
