My Experiences in Manipur and the Naga HillsJohnstone, James, Sir
History
My Experiences in Manipur and the Naga Hills
Johnstone, James, Sir
Manipur (India) -- Description and travel; Naga Hills (India) -- Description and travel
In less than an hour Mr. Morgan, who had seen our arrival, came over
accompanied by Messrs. Ruckstuhl and Bretto, his subordinates, all
dressed in Burmese costume, everything they had having been plundered
in the Woon's absence. Mr. Morgan brought over a message from the
Woon to me, saying that he submitted to my authority, and would come
over to-morrow, and tender his formal submission.
Next day he appeared with Mr. Morgan and made his submission. He
was a dignified old man, with a pleasant face expressive of much
character. I thanked him on behalf of Government for his services in
protecting British subjects, and told him that, while assuming charge
of the country on the part of the British Government, I wished him
to remain in office, and conduct the administration pending definite
instructions. I told him that I expected him to maintain order,
and quiet down the country, and promised him any assistance which he
might require to aid him in the endeavour.
After this, I set to work to secure supplies with Mr. Morgan's aid,
so as to be ready for any emergency, and then crossed the river and
called on the Woon and inspected the stockade, a huge enclosure, 420
yards long and 163 wide, with a wall of solid teak logs, 18 feet high,
and none less than a foot square, with strong heavy gates. I returned
to my camp before nightfall, and the mountain gun arrived under the
escort of Gour Duan Subadar. Next day, I heard that the Mengin Woon
had absconded, finding his position untenable.
Had I had a trained levy at my disposal, as would have been the case
had my advice been followed, I could have easily sent a force to
occupy Mengin, and might indeed have marched to Mandalay. As it was,
commanding only irregulars, my position was one of daily anxiety.
The site of Kendat was very picturesque, situated on the high left
bank of the Chindwin, up and down which a view of many miles is
obtained, the reach being there a long one. The stockade contained
the greater part of the official residences, and a good proportion of
the inhabitants, but there were many houses outside, and temples and
phoongyes' residences. Below the town was a large Manipuri village,
inhabited by the descendants of captives taken in the war of 1819-25.
In the rainy season, when the Chindwin is at its height, and 1200 yards
wide, with the long ranges of the Manipuri Hills in the background,
the view is said to be very beautiful. For many miles round Kendat,
to the east of the Chindwin, the country is flat, but studded here
and there with strange-looking hills with scarped sides, that rise
abruptly out of the plains, calling to mind the hill-forests of Central
India. Kendat was well supplied with boats, many of them being most
elaborately carved.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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