As soon as the raft was completed, the jemadar and a number of Burmans embarked, furnished with long bamboos to pole it across; but the current swept it down stream, and it was only saved by the men jumping into the water and pushing it to bank, where all held on by the overhanging branches. The Kakhyen method of stretching a rope across the stream was next resorted to, and under the experienced direction of Captain Bowers a strong rope of the outer layer of the bamboo was speedily improvised. This attempt also failed, for the rope broke in two when the raft was in midstream, but the men kept firm hold, and hauled themselves to the opposite bank. At last we succeeded, by means of two ropes, in ferrying all the party across, drenched to the skin by the rain and river water. On the left bank we were met by the choung-sa of Tsitgna with an escort, sent to accompany us to Nampoung, on the Tapeng. Before us lay a line of low hills, running nearly north and south, dividing the valley of the Namthabet from the Burmese plain, into which they fade gradually by long undulations. Their eastern face is covered almost exclusively with bamboos, but the western slope is thickly wooded with numerous species of forest trees, until the plain is reached, when eng trees and tall elephant grass take their place. On arriving at the Tapeng, after a march of five miles, we found two large boats in readiness, one of them nicely carpeted, and carrying a band of musicians beating gongs and tomtoms. All our party, including the Kakhyen chiefs who had accompanied us, being embarked, we were towed by two war-boats, each manned by thirty men, across the broad and quickly flowing Tapeng, to the village of Tsitgna, where we were conducted by the Woon’s private secretary to a small pavilion, comfortably arranged for our reception. The Burmese officials were most attentive; gratuitous supplies of eatables were brought in abundance, and even the Kakhyen chiefs and their followers were supplied with all they needed.
On the 5th of September we settled the hire of the mules and porters without the slightest disagreement, all the baggage having been safely delivered, without the loss of a single article between Hotha and Tsitgna. Even the load of the mule detained at Loaylone, which had been divided into bundles for two porters, arrived safe, and, to the honour of the Kakhyens be it said, without so much as even an opened bottle of brandy being tampered with.
The next morning we embarked on boats constructed of two canoes, carrying a platform and a canopy or roof of leaves overhead, and glided down the broad deep Tapeng, which this season is one thousand five hundred feet wide, and deep enough for an ordinary river steamer, as far as the hills. On the way down, we looked back for a parting glance at the Kakhyen hills. On either side of the river rose the two lofty peaks, the Shitee-doung on the north and the Kad-doung on the south, seeming to stand like sentinels, to guard the routes to China, and in a very literal sense, for the old Chinese forts and frontier custom-houses occupied strong positions on either mountain, and the boundary line of the Flowery Kingdom is almost defined by these heights. Near the mouth of the river we were met by the tsare-daw-gyee with two war-boats, which towed us to Bhamô, where we landed at 2.30 in the afternoon of September 5th, having left it on the 26th of February.
The Burmese surveyor who had been despatched from Hotha to examine the route to Sawady had arrived at Bhamô on the 26th of August, having accomplished his journey in ten days. He had travelled in the disguise of a Shan, accompanied by a guide recommended by the Hotha chief, and our own Kakhyen interpreter. Carrying no instruments except an aneroid for measuring the heights, he had performed his task of observations very satisfactorily. From Hotha he had crossed the intervening ridge, seven hundred feet above the Muangtha valley, into the much larger valley of Muangwan, lying at about the same level as that of Nantin. This Chinese Shan state was governed by the grandmother of the youthful tsawbwa, acting as regent during his minority. She and her headmen agreed in promising safe conduct to all English traders adopting that route. A constant stream of mules and pack bullocks was described as passing from Sawady to Muangwan, whence they proceeded either to Nantin or to Muangkun. The route was clear of all obstructions, and smooth and even throughout. Two Kakhyen districts were passed through, named Bhagon and Phonkan, in the latter of which the highest elevation occurs. Both agreed to maintain the old Chinese tariff of one rupee for mules and eight annas for bullocks, and the Phonkan chief expressed his wish that English traders would adopt this route, and guaranteed their safety.
Our old quarters in the town of Bhamô had been thoroughly repaired, and were ready to receive us, while the tsawbwas, who had accompanied us, to the number of thirty-one, all of whom ruled districts adjacent to the central route, were housed by the Burmese in zayats outside the stockade. The object of their attendance was to take part in a solemn sacrifice according to their custom, and to enter into an engagement ratified by the most binding oath, that they would afford safe conduct and protection to all traders and travellers who might hereafter cross their hills between Bhamô and the Shan states. The ceremony took place on the 13th, after sundry open objections and hidden obstacles raised by the Burmese, who, no doubt, were at first rather puzzled by the transaction, but, after clear explanations by Major Sladen, raised no further difficulty. A species of scaffold was erected, consisting of strong posts sunk into the ground, with cross pieces, to which the victim, a buffalo, was bound. An altar was reared twenty feet in height, with a square platform of bamboos, on which the offering was placed. Before the sacrifice, and again before the offering was made, the nats or deities were duly invoked in a solemnly chanted prayer. The buffalo was firmly bound by its horns to the scaffold, and then thrown on one side, so that the whole weight of the body bore on the partially twisted neck. A Kakhyen rushed forward, in one hand holding a plantain leaf cup full of water, and brandishing his dah in the other. Simultaneously the water was thrown over the victim, and the fatal blow delivered in the neck with a force and effect as fatal as the stab of the matador. The carcase was at once cut up, the blood being received in a large vessel, while the entrails were laid as offerings to the nats on the elevated altar. With the blood a quantity of samshu was mixed, and stirred up with the points of dahs and spears, and each chief in turn drank from the bowl, and uttered his vow of fidelity to the common cause. Such was the rite that the three chiefs had joined in at Ponsee when leagued for our destruction, and now thirty-one chiefs bound themselves solemnly to maintain peace and give protection to future travellers through their borders. This was the concluding act which terminated our expedition, and it may be permitted to us to look back with satisfaction to the fact, that of the whole party which set out of Bhamô, with the exception of one sepoy and a native collector, who succumbed to disease, all returned in safety. The natives of the Kakhyen hills and of the Shan valleys had learned to regard their at first suspected or dreaded visitors as friends and benefactors; and if the advance had been slow, and in the opinion of some costly, the return had been easily accomplished, and not without a wealth of “golden opinions” won from the various chiefs with whom Englishmen for the first time had been brought in successive relations.
It is scarcely within the scope of this volume to review the political aspect of the work performed, but it is impossible to refrain from some comments. The term failure has been freely applied to the outcome of this expedition, and the conduct of the leader has been, only recently, most harshly criticised. Considering that his instructions, as received from the Chief Commissioner of British Burma, were to investigate thoroughly the causes of the cessation of trade, to discover the exact political position of the Kakhyens, the Shans, and the Panthays, and to influence these communities in favour of the restoration of commerce, it can hardly be alleged that the prescribed objects were not fully attained. While it had been considered by the superior authorities desirable to advance to Yung-chang, or, if possible, to Tali-fu, the leader had been strictly enjoined not to risk the safety of the members of the mission. From Bhamô he had to feel his way, contending against intrigues on the part of the Kakhyens and misunderstanding on the part of the Shans, fomented by the misrepresentations of the jealous Chinese merchants at Bhamô. The country to be traversed was unknown, and in an abnormal state of confusion. Where Burma ended, and China commenced, was a problem, for the ancient frontier lines had been temporarily obliterated, the authority of the mandarins had receded into the interior of Yunnan, and that of the usurping Mahommedan rulers was only partially felt to the westward of Momien. Not till that town was reached could the desired information be obtained, or the true relation of the intervening valley states to Burma or China be discerned. Not a step forwards had been taken without securing beforehand the consent, and, as it proved, the welcome, of the various rulers, subordinate or supreme; and care was especially taken to disown any political partisanship, and to proclaim to all that our object was to explore in the interests of commerce.
When, after a short stay at Momien, it became evident that further progress was at once dangerous and in the existing state of things liable to embroil us with Chinese constituted authorities, a return was resolved on, and only retarded by uncontrollable circumstances. To have obeyed orders, and in various and trying positions to have manifested a patient endurance in order to reach the farthest possible goal, and return thence with the wished for information, and thus prepare the way for future travellers, may not be accounted brilliant exploits; but these are the arduous duties of a careful scout and a successful pioneer. The reader can form his own opinion as to whether these were not worthily performed by Major Sladen.
Those who shared his journeyings, though not his responsibilities, and witnessed his cautious and resolute bearing under novel and perplexing conditions, cannot but record their opinion that he deserves a larger meed of praise than has been as yet accorded to his conduct of the first English expedition to Yunnan.