IN THE DEFILE JUST BELOW BHAMO,
February 8, 1890.
"We expect a first-class trip, and should be away about six weeks. We take a month's provisions with us, and a fortnight's follow us. There is a great charm to me in going into quite an unknown country, full of wild beasts and savages; there is nearly every animal under the sun said to be in these jungles, and the place has every appearance of it: tracks of all sorts along the river-banks. But we shall soon see for ourselves. I fancy the scenery will be grand, and we shall probably get many beautiful orchids."
BERNARDMYO, March 20, 1890.
"I have only a moment for a line to say I've 'come out alive' at this end of the country, which is fortunate. It is one of the roughest journeys I have ever done, and we have been wet through for days, with no change possible; great mountains, with only goat tracks to move by, had to be climbed two or three times in the day, which made going most tedious. By marching from 5 a.m. to 6 and sometimes 7 p.m. we could only do thirty miles a day; this was for a ten days' movement, so you may imagine the country is rough. It's a magnificent land, however—wild elephants, lots of tigers, and beasts of every description everywhere, and the inhabitants perfect savages, but clever beyond measure at agriculture in their valleys, and on the hill-sides at weaving, knitting, basket-work, etc., of all kinds. I went to find the column I sent out some three months ago, and found it about 150 miles off; they had had a good deal of fighting, and lost a matter of thirty men, which was unfortunate, but it might have been more. I have ordered them all back, except 100 men to hold a post at Mantone, for if the rains commence I should never get them back at all, owing to the impossibility of the roads. I never saw such a desperate country for roads, as they call them; a goat would be puzzled with some of them.
"I hope the Squire and all of you are well. How I should like to see you all, and have a dinner at Gatacre! I have not had any real good food for about two months, but, though rough, we enjoy what we do get."
A rough journey
Though the leader Kan Hlaing succeeded in effecting his escape, the expedition had good effect, for his following was dispersed and his prestige broken. To all those who had taken part in this "rough journey" it brought another clasp to their medal.
On March 27 Brigadier-General Wolseley reached Mandalay on his return from leave, and took over the command next day. But before two months were out, he was wanted to officiate elsewhere, and Gatacre was sent back to Mandalay. He had been very sorry to "give up charge," and was proportionately pleased to resume the command. In his letters he speaks of having initiated many experiments which interested him very much. Writing to his sister in July 1890, he says:
"I have commenced a Government farm here on a large scale, about eight hundred acres at present, but will run up to four or five thousand acres. I have started elephant ploughs, as the ground is so hard owing to want of rain that the ordinary bullock plough is not strong enough, and if we do not plough now the season will be too far gone to enable us to get a crop off the ground this year. The elephant plough has to be specially made, or the brute will pull it to pieces; sometimes they get frightened, and then it is best to clear out, for though the plough weighs half a ton, it is nothing to a frightened elephant, who goes straight home with it through everything. I hope to send you a report on the working of the farm just now; the Squire would like to read it. I wish I had that big plough here that we used to have at Coton; it would be just the thing for this land. I forget how many horses it took, but I should put a couple of elephants in."