A thousand miles on an elephant in the Shan States — John Shaqi
A thousand miles on an elephant in the Shan StatesHallett, Holt S. (Holt Samuel)
History
A thousand miles on an elephant in the Shan States
Hallett, Holt S. (Holt Samuel)
Laos -- Description and travel; Thailand -- Description and travel
On the morning of the 31st of January we left early, and following the
Meh Tha Wah, and its northern branch the Meh Plor, and crossing two
spurs for the sake of shortness, reached the summit of the pass over the
great spur that separates the drainage of the Meh Tha Wah from that of
the Meh Too, which enters the Thoungyeen two or three miles below the
guard-house—the crest of the pass being 46 miles distant from Hlineboay,
and 2060 feet above sea-level. The spur can easily be avoided by
following the valley of the Meh Too.
Leaving the pass, we descended along the Tsin-sway, or Elephant-tusk,
stream to the Meh Too, dropping 300 feet in the mile and a half.
Proceeding up the Meh Too, we camped for the night at the forty-ninth
mile.
The next morning we left early. A mile on, the stream forked, and we
followed the intervening spur, which gradually flattened out and spread
until we reached the foot of the pass over the Karroway Toung. A short
climb of 400 feet past an outcrop of limestone, led us to the crest,
2817 feet above the sea, and 52 miles from Hlineboay, from whence we had
a magnificent view of the country to the west. Here Mr Bryce’s party
passed us, and we did not see it again until we reached Maing Loongyee.
Having taken some photographs, we followed a rivulet and descended 260
feet in a mile to the Oo-caw, a small stream which flows eastwards into
the Meh Ngor, where we halted for breakfast. During the descent from the
pass the Shans brought me branches of the tea-plant, which was growing
wild in the hills. Its long narrow leaves reminded me of the willow. The
men told me that it was likewise found on the route from Maulmain to
Raheng, as well as in the ranges to the north of the pass right up to
China. Some of the plants were fully 15 feet in height.
From the Oo-caw we should have descended to the Meh Ngor, and followed
the stream to the Meh Nium, as Dr Richardson had done on his journey to
Zimmé in 1829; but the elephant-drivers said that the route was
overgrown, the Karens preferring to keep open the hill-path, along
which, owing to the shallowness of the streams, they could proceed
throughout the year. Since leaving the Thoungyeen we had met a few
parties of Karens, but had not seen any of their villages, as they build
them away from the main tracks.
From the Oo-caw the road passes over a series of great spurs, separated
by narrow steep-sided valleys, often merely a dip to the stream-bed.
From the crests of the main spurs, which were occasionally higher than
the summit of the pass, we had magnificent views of the country, which
has the appearance of the desiccated remains of a great rolling plateau,
the crest of the spurs following the wave-line across the main valley of
the Meh Ngor.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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