The road ascended now through forest and thick bamboo undergrowth, and was very fatiguing. For the first time men were met carrying down loads of jade stone. The watershed between the Chindwin and the Irrawaddy was crossed, and the road then descended into an open plateau, out of the dense and dismal forest through which our march of seven miles had been. From 7 a.m. till 2 p.m. we had been steadily marching, but we had only been able to accomplish seven miles. Heavy rain fell that night and turned the camping-ground into a bog, and made the road for next day (February 6th) very heavy. The mud and water reached to the bellies of the mules, and in places the column was forced to leave the path and cut a new way through the forest. The Namthein, an affluent of the Uyu, had to be crossed several times, the water being up to a man's knee and the bed of the stream 50 yards broad. At midday the weary force encamped on a tongue of land at the junction of the Namthein and Uyu Rivers. The camp was on a lovely spot. It faced southwards, and commanded a view of the junction of the two streams. On the right was the Uyu, a beautiful stream of from 75 to 100 yards from bank to bank, "as clear as crystal, and alive with fish, which kept rising to the surface in the evening, like trout in an English stream. The bed was generally rocky, full of large water-worn boulders; but for a short distance above our camp there was a very deep pool under the opposite bank, while the shore on our side was sandy and gravelly, and sloped very gradually towards the deep part.... The spot which we selected for a camp was a beautiful triangular piece of ground, covered with short grass and a few bushes on the northern portion, and with a long tongue of shingle and sand stretching southwards to the place where the streams met." In this pleasant place came a further letter to the leaders of the expedition from Kansi Naung, saying that he had given orders that the English should be treated well, and promising to come himself with presents. Next day, however, brought only disappointment. A letter came from Kansi Naung saying that illness prevented him from keeping his promise. Other signs indicated that all was not right, and Shwè Gya, who had been hopeful hitherto, lost heart. The military leaders were for good reasons in favour of immediate action. Major Adamson, however, took the responsibility of giving Kansi Naung more time, and wrote to him peremptorily, saying that they could not wait, and that he must come in. On the 8th of February news came that Kansi Naung was at a village on the opposite side of the river, not a mile off. Shwè Gya was asked to go across to see him. But he declined, saying that he knew Kachins were on his track to murder him.[47] From two men who came across from the Sawbwa's camp, one of whom Major Adamson had met in Mogaung, it was learnt that emissaries from Po Saw had arrived, and were urging the Kachin chief not to visit the British.