Here letters came in from the two brothers who ruled the hills in which the jade-mines are situated. They were called Kansi Naung and Kansi Hla. Their tone was friendly, though they wrote with the hope of preventing the advance of our people from Mogaung. Answers were sent by mounted messengers, saying that the force was already at Kamaing and would continue its march next day, and assuring the Sawbwas of our peaceable intentions.
Starting from Kamaing on the 31st of January, the bank of the Indaw River was reached after some of the most difficult marches made during the expedition. The path was passable for men but not for a long line of laden animals. It was very swampy, with tall elephant-grass on each side, which had been set on fire to make the track passable. The men had to force their way through the charred stalks, and as there was a heavy fog at the time "the faces and clothes of the whole column were speedily as black as if they had been down a coal-mine." (Short account, p. 36.) For some distance every yard of the road had to be made by cutting down the tall, coarse grass and spreading it on the surface of the swamp until it would bear the weight of the animals. So they made their way, always through the tall grass, until the Indaw River was struck. Here it was decided to form a defensible camp, in which all superfluous animals, stores, and tents should be left, with a sufficient garrison to guard them, while the main body pushed on to the jade-mines. After their experience of the country, it was held to be dangerous to move with the whole train if there was any likelihood of fighting. Two days were occupied in preparing this camp, in getting some portion of the road cleared in advance, and in holding communication with a neighbouring Kachin Sawbwa.
On the 3rd of February the reduced column, in light fighting order, left Kamaing with seven days' provisions, loaded on some hundred and twenty-five mules. Each man carried two days' rations besides. Everything that could be done without, including tents, was left in the camp. It was as well, for the road continued difficult, and every bit of ground at the halting-places for the night had to be cleared. The march was sometimes in the bed of a stream sometimes through dense cane jungle growing in swamp. Hard work in deep mud, from which all sorts of noxious vapours rose, caused the men to sweat profusely, and exhausted the animals. Fortunately, through the medium of Shwè Gya, Major Adamson persuaded some of the Kachin villagers to approach him, and their services were hired for road clearing.
Bhamo Battalion drawn up for inspection.
On the 6th messengers from the jade-mine Sawbwas, Kansi Naung and Kansi Hla, were met, carrying letters for the Deputy Commissioner. The letters were quite friendly in tone, and invited the British force to halt on the bank of the Uyu River, where there were grass and water in plenty. Major Adamson was much relieved to get this communication, as it seemed to give promise of a peaceable visit to the mines.
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."