It was desired to verify this statement, as there might have been trouble if the brigand had escaped, or even if the Shans had not believed him to have been killed. Unfortunately Mr. Scott, who was at Möngnai, was too unwell to go to the place, and did not visit it for some time. When he was able to go he found the marks of a very shallow hole, but no human remains of any kind except a long lock of hair, which might have been Twet Nga Lu's. The Shans, however, all believed that Twet Nga Lu was dead, and there was no reason to discredit the report of the Beleuchi sepoys.
All doubt on this point was removed afterwards. The scene of the brigand's death was in the wooded hills which border Möngpawn. The day after he was shot a party of Shans from Möngpawn disinterred, or rather lifted, the corpse from its shallow grave, and shook off the loose earth. The head was cut off, shaved, and sent to Möngnai, and exhibited there at the north, south, east, and west gates of the town during the absence of the Assistant Superintendent at Fort Stedman. The various talismans were removed from the trunk and limbs. Such charms are generally small coins or pieces of metal, which are inserted under the skin. These would be doubly prized as having been enshrined in the flesh of so noted a leader, and no doubt were eagerly bought up. The body was then boiled down, and a concoction known to the Shans as Mahè Si was obtained, which is an unfailing charm against all kinds of wounds. So valuable a "medicine" did not long remain in the hands of the poor, and soon found its way into some princely medicine-chest. The value attached to the fat of the tiger, and the demand for it by men of greater culture than the Shans could or can boast, are known to all Indian sportsmen. Such was the end of Twet Nga Lu. It was certainly, so far as the body is concerned, most complete.
CHAPTER XVII
THE KARENNIS, OR RED KARENS, AND SAWLAPAW
It has been told how Mr. Scott was on his way to Mawkmai, when Twet Nga Lu's enterprise caused him to turn his course to Möngnai. He now returned to the original object of his expedition, namely, the expulsion of the Karennis from Mawkmai and the restoration of the Sawbwa Hkun Hmon, whom they had expelled. He reached Mawkmai with the force under Colonel Sartorius on the 16th of May, 1888, and found that the Karennis had not awaited his coming. Mawkmai was occupied, and Sawbwa Hkun Hmon reinstated. Colonel Sartorius returned to Fort Stedman with the main portion of his command, leaving, in accordance with the instructions given to him, a hundred and fifty rifles, under Lieutenant Fowler, at Mawkmai, which was considered to be the most fitting post for the civil officer and his escort.
Mawkmai being only a long march of twenty-five miles from Möngnai, a detachment of twenty-five rifles was thought enough to support the Sawbwa, and in June, Hkun Hmon reported that the Karennis had quitted his country. All seemed to have settled down. The Superintendent did not hesitate, therefore, to call Mr. Scott to Fort Stedman for various business matters. Mr. Scott reached Fort Stedman on the 28th of June, and reported that all was well. Lieutenant Fowler was at that time in Mawkmai. On the 1st of July he moved his headquarters to Möngnai, leaving the detachment of twenty-five rifles to garrison Mawkmai. The Karennis, it may be presumed, were watching his movements, for on the 3rd of July, in the evening, a body of Karennis attempted to rush the town. They were repulsed, but kept up a fire on the defenders until long after dark. The twenty-five Beleuchis, seconded by the Sawbwa and his armed rabble, returned the fire and inflicted some loss on the enemy, who had withdrawn to a short distance. Considering it unsafe, after this experience, to leave Mawkmai with so small a detachment, Lieutenant Fowler moved his headquarters back to that place.
The monsoon was now in full force. With roads of the most primitive kind and swollen rivers, rapid travelling was difficult. Mr. Scott left Fort Stedman as soon as the news of what had happened reached him. Leaving his baggage to make what speed it could, he rode on and arrived at Mawkmai half-starved and dressed in some Shan garments which he had borrowed on the way to replace his dripping clothes, only to find that the fighting was over. Lieutenant Fowler, learning that the enemy had taken up a position within a day's march of Mawkmai, went straight for them, carried their entrenchments at the point of the bayonet, and drove them out with a loss to them of sixty men. This experience ought to have diminished the arrogance of Sawlapaw. He was very little moved by it. He wrote on the 13th of July in the most royal style, requesting the withdrawal of British troops from Mawkmai lest they should be "accidentally harmed" by his men when he attacked Hkun Hmon. This letter was returned to Sawlapaw's messengers by the Chief Commissioner's orders. A letter written in August, in which he explained his claims against Mawkmai, and asserted that he did not know the relations of that State to the British Government, was dealt with in the same way. Both these letters were written in a style that was inconsistent with the position of the Karenni chief, and they meant defiance.
In July, 1888, the matter was referred to the Government of India, and their sanction was received in August to demand from Sawlapaw compensation for the damage done to Mawkmai and securities for his future good behaviour, and to enforce these demands if they were not complied with.
In September, as the Karenni chief showed no signs of yielding, or willingness to meet Mr. Hildebrand, the Chief Commissioner prepared and placed in the Superintendent's hands an ultimatum in the following terms: Sawlapaw was required firstly to come in to Fort Stedman, and there make in person his submission as a chief subordinate to the Queen-Empress. Secondly, to pay an indemnity of two lakhs of rupees to cover the damage done to Mawkmai and the cost of the expedition sent to relieve that State; thirdly, to surrender five hundred serviceable muskets; lastly, to covenant to pay annually a tribute of five thousand rupees to the British Government. This ultimatum was placed in the Superintendent's (Mr. Hildebrand's) hands, but he was instructed to withhold it until November, and meanwhile to endeavour by all possible means to persuade Sawlapaw to come to terms.