CHAPTER XVI.
REPULSE OF MISSION.
Appearance of enemy—Murder of Margary—Friendly tsawbwas—Mission attacked—Woonkah tsawbwa bought over—The jungle fired—Repulse of attack—Incidents of the day—Our retreat—Shitee—Burmese reinforcements—Halt at guard-house—Retreat on Tsitkaw via Woonkah—Elias and Cooke’s visit to Muangmow—Li-sieh-tai—Return of Captain Cooke—Elias at Muangmow—Father Lecomte and the Mattin chief—A forged letter—The Saya of Kaungtoung—Reports regarding Margary—The commission of inquiry—Return of Elias—Visit to the second defile—Mission’s return to Rangoon.
We were all astir with early daylight on February 22nd, and prepared our baggage for the advance to Manwyne; but about seven o’clock large bodies of armed men were observed on the heights above us hurrying downwards in the direction of Shitee, as if to cut off our retreat. There was no mistaking their hostile purpose, and the Burmese immediately detached parties to occupy the positions which they had fortified, one being above the camp, and another thrown forward to a point of the road leading to Seray, which commanded the next hollow and the opposite ridge. The Woonkah tsawbwa came into the camp, and communicated to Colonel Browne a report which received almost instant confirmation. The tsare-daw-gyee appeared with a very serious countenance, and produced two letters received from the Burmese agents at Manwyne. They briefly narrated the horrible murder of Mr. Margary on the previous day at Manwyne; his writer and other attendants were also reported to have been killed. No particulars were given; but the tsare-daw-gyee was warned that we were about to be attacked, and that it would be for his own interest to detach himself by some miles from the English, failing which precaution he would incur the same danger, although the Chinese bore no ill-will to him and his party. The Burmese officer, however, promptly addressed himself to the defence of the camp, and we went up with him to the spur just above to reconnoitre, while the Sikhs took up a position behind a long low boulder lying at the western end of the camp, which served as a natural breastwork, whence they commanded the road by which we had come. The friendly Kakhyen tsawbwas of Woonkah and Wacheoon had hastened away to bring up reinforcements, and the mules were driven down into the grassy hollow below the camp. These preparations had not been completed when the enemy opened fire from all sides but one. The assailants had descended the ridge, hidden by the forest which, as already described, surrounded our position on two sides. This had masked their advance, and served as a perfect cover for them, the report and smoke of their fire-arms alone showing their whereabouts; it was plain, however, that they were in force to the south and east, and they evidently selected our party as the object of attack, avoiding the Burmese, who, however, actively returned the fire. Presently some of the assailants, led by a Chinese brandishing a long trident, rushed out from the jungle to the smaller open space. The Sikhs at once opened fire on them, which drove them behind whatever cover could be found, and stopped any further advance for a time. As soon as they were hidden, our men ceased firing. This seemed to embolden the enemy, and a second detachment rushed down and distributed themselves among the bushes. A brisk and well-aimed volley drove them out in a mass, up the narrow entrance to the road. One man at least was seen to fall dead, and others, wounded, were dragged up by their companions. For some hours, firing from the men concealed in the forest continued on all three sides. As these Kakhyens and Chinese only raised their firelocks to the side of the head, looked for a second forwards, and then fired, the bullets went over our heads. The steady firing of the Sikhs at last seemed to be too much for the enemy, and about 2 P.M. they were seen retreating along the ridge above, and the firing to the south ceased. As they were retreating, we fired on them at about a thousand yards’ range, and this evidently astonished them, as they rushed past, stooping at the exposed points where the fire told. When everything seemed quiet, and the road appeared clear, the mules were brought up from the hollow, and the muleteers hastened to get the loads ready. While this was being done, a party of our Kakhyens made a rush to the open space, where one of the enemy had been seen to fall, and returned with his head, which was tied up by the pig tail to a tree. It was subsequently reported that he was a Chinese officer, but his dress and appearance hardly indicated such rank. Before the preparations for a start were completed, the enemy returned in much greater force, and reoccupied the coverts, and it was estimated that they were at least five hundred strong. Firing recommenced from the heights and the forest around, and our position appeared to be completely surrounded, except on the side of the descent to the Nampoung valley. The question of abandoning the baggage and effecting a retreat by this, the only line left open, was mooted, but the tsare-daw-gyee urged delay, and his men as well as ourselves maintained a steady fire on the enemy.
The Woonkah tsawbwa, with a number of his men, had returned to the camp just before the first repulse of the enemy, and he informed Colonel Browne that the Seray chief had offered him five hundred rupees if he would join in the attack on us. The drift of this remark was at once seen by Colonel Browne, who promptly offered him ten thousand rupees if he could succeed in bringing off all the baggage. It was difficult for the Kakhyen’s mind to conceive so large an amount of coin, and the tsare-daw-gyee had to make him comprehend it by stating that he would receive “three basketfuls of silver.”
Just as this arrangement had been concluded, we heard the shouts of men, apparently coming up behind the southern spur, which was occupied by the enemy. The Burmese at first thought that this indicated the approach of a reinforcement which was hourly expected to arrive from Bhamô. Presently, however, the forest in front of them burst into a blaze, having been fired by the Shitee tsawbwa and his Kakhyens with those of Woonkah. This manœuvre proved most successful, and the enemy was speedily forced to retire, and as other coverts were successively fired below the heights by the Burmese, they were soon in full retreat along the heights, exposed to the fire of our rifles, which told on them at several open places. Firing, however, continued for some time below the heights, and on the side of the ridge commanding the Seray road a desultory fire was also kept up. The Burmese guard were here posted behind an earthwork, and kept the enemy at bay on that side; and after the southern spur and eastern heights were cleared, we took the Sikhs down to support the Burmese, and fired into the further hollow, the only remaining covert of the enemy.
All firing had nearly ceased by about five o’clock. The jungle on all other sides being now cleared and the road to Shitee open, the order was given to reload the mules. They were speedily brought up out of the hollow, where they had remained in safety, and all were soon loaded. Some mules and drivers had disappeared, but willing Kakhyens, either of Shitee or Woonkah, speedily shouldered the remaining loads, and the vacant pack saddles were heaped up and burned before we left. At the close of the day, though bullets had been flying about in all directions, the casualties on our side only amounted to three men slightly wounded, and a mule shot in the neck. The firing was mainly directed at the officers of the mission, and whenever we moved towards the baggage, bullets fell freely about us, while the Chinese shouted to the tsare-daw-gyee that they did not wish to kill his men, but the “foreign devils.” Our Burmese showed great spirit, and the tsare-daw-gyee, from first to last, was deserving of the highest praise. One of his men, while trying to drive out some Chinese, had his red turban carried off by the prongs of a trident, but succeeded in evading a more fatal thrust of the weapon. The loss of the enemy was variously reported, and it is impossible to give an accurate return. Some perished in the burning jungle, and so far as the reports afterwards furnished could be relied on, of the assailants about eight or ten were killed and thirty wounded. I noticed that young men not more than twenty years of age, and even boys, were numerous among their ranks. The well-known loud voice of the Seray pawmine was heard, and the tsawbwa’s son as well as the tsawbwa of Ponsee were said to have been present. The son of Seray was detected by the report of his double-barrelled gun, a present to his father at the time of the former expedition, both barrels of which were fired at once, making the double report easily distinguishable.
The letters received from Manwyne had stated that the party about to attack us was the vanguard of a force of three thousand men, whom the governor of Momien had despatched to oppose our progress. The reader will remember that our camp at Ponsee was menaced with attack, in April 1868, by the lawless Kakhyens of this very district, and, although on the other side of the mountain, our position on this occasion was close to that place. Numerous robberies had been previously reported in this district, and the attacking party undoubtedly consisted largely of the Ponsee and Seray Kakhyens. These belong to the Lakone tribe, while the clans of the Woonkah, Wacheoon, and Shitee chiefs, who rendered such faithful assistance, are offsets of the Cowlie tribe. With the Kakhyens were associated a number of Chinese rowdies or perhaps soldiers; but the assailants could hardly be reckoned other than local robbers, who thought that the Burmese would not resist, and that our own guards were too few, while the prospect of such a rich booty was enough to make them encounter the risks of a fight. The staunch defence, the effect produced by the long range of the rifles, and the bold diversion in our favour directed by the Shitee and Woonkah chiefs, who fired the jungle, combined to disappoint their expectations. It must not be understood from this that the subsequent reports of the advance of Chinese troops, and of hostility on the part of the Momien officials, are discredited. The frontier Chinese were strongly prejudiced against our entrance into Yunnan, and the Kakhyens and local robbers would be stimulated by the reported or actual advance of troops to anticipate any overt acts of hostility, and try to secure the rich booty for themselves.
When the baggage train had all moved safely off, escorted by some of the Burmese guard, we set out on the return to Shitee, followed by the Sikhs, the rear being brought up by the tsare-daw-gyee. Mr. Fforde, with a few of his men, remained for a short time, while the Burmese posted on the road to Seray held their position until all were clear off, then followed slowly after us to cover the retreat. We started at 5.30, and in half an hour reached Shitee, having met on the road some of the Burmese reinforcements which had come up from Bhamô. The baggage was all collected in a pile before the tsawbwa’s house, and the tsitkay-nekandaw, who commanded the newly arrived detachment, was posted with forty of his men behind an earthwork which they had thrown up, covering the approach to the village. Both the tsawbwa and the tsare-daw-gyee wished us to remain for the night at this place. The chief feared that the Chinese would come down and burn his village in revenge for his having aided us. The Burmese argued, that if the members of the mission continued the retreat, it would appear as though we were deserting the baggage, which could not be brought further that evening. The position of the village, situated on the slope of the mountain spur, and closely surrounded by dense jungle, seemed too much exposed to a night attack, and Colonel Browne decided to push on to the guard-house on the Nampoung. We started accordingly at 6.30, accompanied by the tsare-daw-gyee and some of the Burmese. It soon became very dark, and the descent down the rocky footpath, bordered on one side by a steep declivity, was tedious and dangerous. We could not see the stones or the edges of the track, and when passing through thick groves of trees, even a white pony right in front of me was invisible.
For nearly four long hours we stumbled downwards, the latter part of the journey being somewhat facilitated by the moonlight, which, however, was obscured by the impenetrable forest and the surrounding heights. Crossing the Nampoung, the guard-house was safely reached, and we were comfortably housed. As four of the mules had brought on some bedding, food, and cooking utensils, we were not so badly off as the Sikhs, who had marched laden with ammunition besides packets of sycee silver, which had been distributed among them for safety in the crisis of the attack, and had only supplies of dry rice.
The next morning it was resolved that the Woonkah tsawbwa, who had accompanied us, should return to Shitee, and bring down the remainder of the baggage, while we should await his arrival. Two hours later the tsare-daw-gyee reported that the Chinese were collecting in force at the northern and southern ends of the Nampoung valley to renew the attack. He therefore advised us to proceed at once to Tsitkaw by the Woonkah road. In a short time we were toiling up the steep ascent leading to the district and village of Woonkah, which lies on the summit of the high ridge forming the western watershed of the Nampoung, and must be at an altitude equal to that of Shitee. The tsare-daw-gyee brought up the rear of the party, and during the march sent forward a messenger to urge us to press on, because the Chinese were reported to be rapidly assembling. The people of the first Woonkah village welcomed us with evident satisfaction, and the tsawbwa-gadaw brought a grateful supply of sheroo, which was most refreshing. Here we were joined by the tsare-daw-gyee, and it was proposed to him that we should leave the led horses behind, but he objected to this as unnecessary.
From Woonkah the descent of the hills commenced, the road passing through a forest of very lofty trees clear of underwood. As we neared the junction of a road from the north with the Woonkah track, our advanced guard of Burmese beckoned us to follow quickly, and most carefully reconnoitred the sides of a spur which sloped down towards us, but nothing but dense jungle was visible. They evinced the same anxious caution at the point where the Ponline road joined our route before the third guard-house was reached. The Sikhs were beginning to be much distressed, and we had to relieve them by giving up our ponies for their use in turns. Tsihet was reached at 2.30, and, after a short rest, we proceeded to Tsitkaw, where we arrived at sundown, and were congratulated on our escape by the second tsitkay-nekandaw, who met us outside at the head of a guard lining each side of the road. We put up in our old quarters, but without any supplies, as no baggage had arrived; and for bedding, we had straw and Shan felt coverlets. Fortunately, some tins of preserved meat were forthcoming, but we had to procure from the villagers some clay vessels for cooking, and a blue bowl to serve instead of plates.
We remained two days at Tsitkaw expecting the baggage, the lighter portions of which arrived in charge of the Burmese. Another detachment of eighty-five men came from Bhamô, on the morning after our arrival, and marched straight on to the hills. The indefatigable tsare-daw-gyee also received orders from the Woon to return at once to Woonkah, and remain there personally to oversee the despatch of all the baggage. It is impossible to speak too highly of the care for our safety on the march, and the general conduct, of this Burmese officer. Various reports were brought in as to the loss suffered by the enemy; and both Burmese and Kakhyens seemed to have been strongly impressed by the “far shooting” of our rifles. The Kakhyen who had brought the earliest information of the intended attack made his appearance, and was delighted at finding his services recompensed with a handsome reward. He was so elated that, Kakhyen-like, he returned with a “tail” of followers, and, giving himself out as a tsawbwa, tried to get something for his companions, in which he was unsuccessful. We were also rejoined by our old interpreter, Moung Mo, who had disappeared at Shitee; but of Moung Yoh, or Li-kan-shin, and Allan’s Chinese clerk, who had been last seen or heard of at Seray, nothing certain could be ascertained. Subsequent reports stated that they had both been murdered, but no trustworthy intelligence was received either of their death or escape.
On the second day of our stay at Tsitkaw, letters were received from the Resident at Bhamô in reply to the despatch announcing our repulse. He had fortunately been on the point of sending some Lenna Kakhyens with letters to Elias at Muangmow, and had promised them a reward if they escorted our companion safely back. The Woon sent to request our return to Bhamô, as he had heard of an intended attack on Tsitkaw by the Khanloung Kakhyens, a most lawless race of robbers inhabiting the hills above the Molay river. Extra guards were accordingly posted by the choung-oke, and all the soldiers were ordered to be on the alert; but the night passed off quietly. We all returned, some by road and the rest by boat, to Bhamô, on February 26th, and were welcomed at the Residency by Captain Cooke.
He had no news of Elias, who on the 17th instant was still at Muangmow, and whose position, alone in the power of Li-sieh-tai, seemed precarious and alarming. To explain it, I must again mention that Captain Cooke and Mr. Ney Elias had started, under the convoy of the Lenna chief of Paloungto, by the Sawady route, intending, if possible, to meet us at Momien. They went from Bhamô to Mansay, and, leaving the latter place early in the morning, arrived at the Kakhyen village of Kara by nine o’clock. The chief Kara village, named Peetah, lies a few miles distant. Two miles from this place, they entered the country of the Lenna Kakhyens, and a march of seven miles brought them to Wurrabone, a small village situated near the summit of a mountain. This is the seat of the elder brother of the Paloungto chief, at whose house they spent the night, being received with the utmost attention that Kakhyen hospitality could show. From their observation, the Lenna tribe appear to be a very superior race of Kakhyens, their houses and manners evincing a higher degree of civilisation than is found amongst the Kara or Lakone tribe. Starting at midday from Wurrabone, the party arrived at sunset at Paloungto, a village of twenty houses. A march of six miles over a rough hill road led to Namkai, the largest Lenna village, containing forty houses, whence a road leads to Muangwan and Hotha. Here the road, passing through a part of the Lakone country, descended for nine miles to Pamkam, a small village lying at the foot of the hills on the right bank of the Namwan or Muangwan river. From this point, at which the Chinese frontier is crossed, and the level valley of the Shuaylee is entered, Kwotloon, in the territory of Muangmow, is only a mile distant. Arriving at sunset, the travellers halted for the night, the Shan inhabitants proving sullen and inclined to be uncivil. Their behaviour was a marked contrast to the demeanour of the dreaded Lenna Kakhyens, through whose hills the party had passed without any difficulty, while their expenses had not amounted to five rupees, the hospitable tsawbwas insisting on supplying everything required. The only chance of delay arose at Paloungto, where the tsawbwa wanted to give a grand buffalo sacrifice and feast in honour of his guests, and to propitiate the nats in their favour. He postponed the ceremonial at Cooke’s request until the return journey of the latter. After leaving Kwotloon, the Namwan stream was crossed, and a day’s march on the left bank of twenty-four miles in a south-easterly direction, and ascending the right bank of the Shuaylee through an open, level country, brought the party to the Shan town of Muangmow. This place, the residence of the tsawbwa, like the towns of the Sanda valley, is surrounded by a brick wall sixteen feet high, without bastions or embrasures, but backed by an earthwork. Four gates, corresponding to the points of the compass, lead into the town, which occupies a square of about six hundred yards, and is inhabited by Shan Chinese. The travellers at once proceeded to call on Li-sieh-tai, who was residing in a ruinous yamen, and commanded a force of apparently about fifty Chinese soldiers, although said to number three hundred. This redoubtable Chinese official received them with great civility, addressing Elias as “his elder brother,” and assigned them quarters in a khyoung close to the western gate of the town.
Li-sieh-tai is described as a little but broad-shouldered and powerful man, with a large head and ugly visage, having an unusually wide mouth, with thick and protruding lips. In conversation he looks straight at his interlocutor, which is in marked contrast to the usually downcast or shifting glance of the other Chinese. He showed his literary acquirements by carefully perusing the imperial passports, which he declared to be quite satisfactory, and amply sufficient to ensure the bearer’s safety if once in the mandarins’ country beyond Sehfan. The difficulty would be in the journey from Muangmow to Sehfan, as there was a feud between the tsawbwas of these states.
Captain Cooke resolved to return to Bhamô, as his presence might render it more difficult or tedious for Mr. Elias to proceed to Momien. When he with his followers proposed to depart, he found the western gate closed, and was told that it could not be opened without the leave of some official. He had been already requested to sign a letter of indemnity for Mr. Elias’ safety, which had, as a matter of course, been declined, and the closing of the gate was intended as a species of pressure. He outmanœuvred the officials by ordering his Kakhyens to wait till the gate should be opened, while he took his departure by another gate. They rejoined him outside the town, and all arrived without further difficulty at Paloungto. Here the nat sacrifice duly took place, and a bullock, pig, and fowls were slaughtered, a leg of the first victim being presented to Cooke, which is a mark of honour only paid to chiefs. A grand palaver was held in the tsawbwa’s house, the occasion being a dispute between the chief and one of his villages, the people of which had stolen a bullock from him. To atone for this insult, a fine of ten bullocks was imposed, to be paid in five yearly instalments. At least fifty Kakhyens were present, and sheroo and samshu were liberally supplied, but the assemblage was quiet and orderly. At midnight the English guest expressed a wish to sleep, and all at once departed, while the chief produced for his accommodation two carpets which he had recently received as a present from the Residency. The chief explained the difficulties which had arisen between himself and the leader of the mission at Sawady, by the fact that he had only agreed to convoy the British mission, and would not admit a Burmese guard into his country. It is certain that no mention of the passage of a Burmese guard had been made during the previous negotiations by Mr. Elias, who was at that time unaware of and subsequently opposed to the plan. The tsawbwa complained bitterly of the humiliation he had experienced in being obliged to squat on the ground before the Burmese officials, and that he had not had any opportunity of a private interview with the English officers. It is very much to his credit that he asked for nothing beyond what he had been promised; and his conduct and that of his brother, the chief of Wurrabone, and their subjects, showed conclusively that, so far as the Kakhyens are concerned, this route to Muangmow was unattended by any real difficulty.
On the day after our arrival at Bhamô, our anxiety concerning the position of Elias was relieved by the arrival of two Lenna Kakhyens, bringing letters from him dated from Kwotloon on the 24th. The messengers had thus accomplished their journey in two days, and were immediately sent back with letters. As it was probable that Mr. Elias would have received the letter of recall, his speedy arrival was looked for; and all our suspense on his account was ended on March 2nd, when he made his appearance, escorted by the Wurrabone pawmine.
Subsequently to Captain Cooke’s departure from Muangmow, Li-sieh-tai, whose conduct and character had made a rather favourable impression on Mr. Elias, held out hopes that he might be able to arrange for his safe conduct to Sehfan. The tsawbwa, however, was more explicit, and assured him that it was impossible in the then state of the country. Subsequent observations, and refusals of access to the tsawbwa, on various pretexts, convinced Elias that there was no intention to let him proceed. He therefore bade farewell to Li, who accepted a rifle as a parting present, and returned to Kwotloon, to which place two Shans brought the news of the attack on our camp. The aged tsawbwa of Wurrabone, with his pawmines, went to Kwotloon to escort him safely to Mansay; and leaving Kwotloon on the 28th, they accomplished the journey of sixty-four miles by a direct road, avoiding Paloungto, in two days. While passing Peetah, the Lennas evinced some apprehension that the Kara Kakhyens, who had previously grumbled about the smallness of their gains, might prove troublesome; but the party passed through without opposition.
It is impossible to avoid the reflection that, if the murder of Margary and the attack on our camp had been directed by Li-sieh-tai, he could easily, by direct or indirect means, have disposed of his visitor; and his civility and consideration for his safety by not allowing him to advance are surely to be esteemed a strong argument in his favour. Among the Lenna Kakhyens the opinion was freely expressed that the opposition was due to secret tactics on the part of the Burmese. That this idea prevailed among the hill tribes to the south of the Tapeng was further confirmed by Father Lecomte, who returned from a visit to Mattin at the time of our arrival at Bhamô. When he and his companion reached the first Kakhyen village, there was an incessant discharge of fire-arms, and the villagers appeared unwilling to receive them, until they assured them that they were not Englishmen. Their sacerdotal garb assisted to make the Kakhyens believe that they belonged to a different race, and they were then entertained, but informed that at first the people had said, “If these are kalas, let us kill them, because the king of Burma does not wish them to enter our hills.” The tsawbwa of Mattin, whose intelligence and general knowledge impressed them strongly, told them that there was no chance of the mission reaching Yunnan. He further remarked that the Kakhyens were glad to see the Englishmen at Bhamô; but “what will become of the trade and occupation of our people if they make a railway from Bhamô to Momien?” This feeling, both among the Chinese merchants and the Kakhyens, especially those under Burmese and Chinese influence, that our gain in the way of open trade would prove their loss, must be largely taken into account in estimating the difficulties of progress.
The opinion that the king of Burma was hostile to the mission owed its origin to a forged royal letter, directing the Kakhyens to oppose us. A copy of this letter was obtained by the Resident, and there was no doubt that it had been widely circulated. The forgery was brought home to no less a personage than the chief phoongyee, or saya, of Kaungtoung. The Woon of Shuaygoo, whose district includes both Kaungtoung and Sawady, it will be recollected, refused any co-operation with his colleague at Bhamô. I personally experienced his hostility to foreigners during a boat voyage through the second defile on the return from Bhamô, when he not only refused a guide, but sent instructions to the headmen of his villages to forbid my landing. He has been since deprived of office, and the actual perpetrator of the forgery has been tried by the ecclesiastical court of Mandalay, degraded from the priesthood, and sentenced to carry one hundred loads of water into the khyoung of the court. The sentence ran as follows:—“In the case of rahans, if in a matter not ordered by our most excellent Lord Buddha, one represents it to be a sacred order, he is guilty of dakka-apat. In the case of laymen, if a person represents that which is not a royal order as a royal order, the customary punishment is to widen his mouth (by slitting the cheeks) or to cut off his hand. In the present instance, Shin Thula Tsara, the Saya of Kaungtoung, without orders from an ecclesiastical court, by making that which was not a royal order into a royal order, was the one who ordered the obstruction of the British mission proceeding to China. He accordingly has been deprived of his office of bishop; but as a rahan and a soldier of the Buddhist religion is not punishable according to the civil law, the decision, in accordance with the rule given in the Wini, made by the assembled members of the ecclesiastical court, is—Let him be punished by carrying one hundred loads of water,” &c. This isolated case of hostility on the part of Burmese officials in nowise detracts from the good opinion which the zeal and energy displayed in our service by the Bhamô authorities earned from all who witnessed and profited by them.
Upon our safe arrival, the Woon sent letters to the governor of Momien to inquire into the causes of the opposition offered to the progress of the mission and the murder of one of its officers. The report that Chinese troops were still marching in great numbers from Momien to Manwyne was also the subject of inquiry. He did not disguise his fear that the Chinese would attack Bhamô; and the preparation of bricks for the construction of a wall around the town, which had already begun, was actively pressed forward.
During our stay, all opportunities for ascertaining, if possible, the exact details of the murder of Mr. Margary and his followers were eagerly availed of by us; but beyond the melancholy fact, though various reports were current, it was impossible to collect evidence either as to the perpetrators or the circumstances of this atrocious crime. It seemed, however, agreed that there were Chinese officials and troops at Manwyne. The muleteers and others who accompanied Margary had fled for their lives into the jungle. One reported that he had been examined as a friend of the foreigners, and had escaped by asserting that he was a resident of the district, and not connected with us. The most trustworthy account was furnished by two of the six Burmese who were at Manwyne, and whom the Chinese officials threatened to kill. The most intelligent one stated that he saw Margary walking about the town, sometimes with Chinese and at other times alone. On the morning of the 21st, the very day of his murder, some men invited him to go and see a hot spring, and when he was outside the town, they knocked him off his pony and speared him. His writer and messenger and two servants were killed in the khyoung. This was only hearsay, and no one had seen the heads of the victims, which were reported to have been affixed to the town wall, or, according to another account, to have been sent to Momien. Our informants had not seen any troops, though one had heard them marching at night while he was concealed in the jungle.
Later accounts stated that the Chinese officers had been ordered back in disgrace to Momien, because they had allowed our party to escape, and that the Shans were at feud with the Chinese, as the phoongyee complained that the khyoung had been desecrated by blood-shedding.
It is to be hoped that the commission of inquiry now traversing China from the east will be able to elicit the facts, and to determine to whom the guilt of the barbarous murder of a British officer attaches. It is in no wise fitting to prejudge the case. Whether local marauders or the Momien officials, actuated either by prejudice against foreigners or commercial jealousy, or, it may be, a groundless fear of encouragement to be derived by the Mahommedans from the presence of the English, violated the rights guaranteed by treaty and the express commands of an imperial passport, remains to be seen. It is possible that the authority of the viceroy of Yunnan was prostituted to oppose the entrance of the hated foreigners; and the recent reports seem to indicate a determination in the Yunnan yamens at least to screen the offenders.
For my own part, I desire to record the deep sympathy entertained for those who mourn for the loss of one so beloved. Our brief intercourse lasted long enough to win for him the esteem and cordial friendship of us all; and while we deplored the early loss to his country of the services of one whose past career and talents promised to raise him to high distinction, we lamented his untimely death as that of an old and dear friend. To his family and those who looked forward to share his future, the loss is irreparable; and the punishment of the guilty will bring but little consolation. But he may be said to have bequeathed it as a public duty—made more imperative by its being the most fitting tribute to his worth—to establish in those border lands the right of Englishmen to travel unmolested.
The death of this young officer and the repulse of the British mission from the frontiers of China have left a marked impression on the minds of the various populations. The question of opening trade routes may be left to the future. Overland commerce cannot be forced, or even stimulated, by extraordinary efforts. The existence of a channel of trade between Burma and China has been demonstrated; and when the restored prosperity of Yunnan shall create a demand, the steamers of the Burmese rivers and the entrepot of Bhamô, where the British flag assures protection to British interests, are ready to furnish the supply. For the present, above and beyond the task of avenging his murder on the guilty, of whatever rank they may be, the name of AUGUSTUS RAYMOND MARGARY will be most fitly honoured by a party of his countrymen formally asserting the right to traverse, in honour and safety, the route between Burma and China, which he was the first Englishman to explore, and which should be maintained as his most durable monument.
By the arrival of Mr. Ney Elias, our chief cause of anxiety was removed, and when on March 3rd the boats arrived from Tsitkaw freighted with the baggage and stores which successive officials had been despatched to expedite, there was no farther necessity for delay at Bhamô. Everything, with very trivial exceptions, was delivered safely according to the inventory which had been taken at Woonkah, and the tsawbwa of that place received his promised reward of £1000, which undoubtedly made him the richest chief among the northern Kakhyens.
As the steamer from Mandalay had not arrived, I hired a native boat, in order to make a leisurely inspection of the second defile, and dropped down to Sawady. The Woon of Bhamô had informed me that there was danger to be apprehended from the Kakhyens on the hills of the defile, and advised an application to the Shuaygoo Woon, who was at Sawady, for a guide. After some delay, the Woon received me, but most ungraciously, and declined the request, as the Bhamô Woon had sent no official letter on the subject. Not content with this refusal, he sent a boat with soldiers to convey orders to the villages not to allow me to remain for the night, the result of which we experienced at a place called Thembaw-eng, where the headman came down and compelled us to leave our moorings. We were not assailed by Kakhyens, but had a nocturnal alarm of a tiger, which the boatmen declared to be not a real tiger, but the nat of the locality, who was enraged at their having cut down some branches which interfered with my camera, when photographing the great cliff. A more disagreeable incident was a violent storm, almost amounting to a tornado, which overtook us in the river. The hurricane was presaged by a most brilliant light seen, in the west, from which quarter the wind soon after burst upon the river with tremendous fury, lashing its surface into great waves, while incessant flashes of lightning lit up the scene, which was one of terrific grandeur. A pleasing incident of the trip was the arrival of a boat containing our old friend and patient, the old tsare-daw-gyee, who had escorted us from Mandalay, and who had arrived at Bhamô in chains on his way to Mogoung a few days before. He expressed great pleasure at seeing me safe, and I congratulated him on having regained his liberty. This was due to royal orders brought by an express boat from Mandalay two days previously. As he intended to halt at Shuaygoo-myo, he promised to neutralise the malice of the Woon, by personal instructions to the headman, which proved most useful.
The steamer Colonel Fytche, with the members of the mission, overtook us at the wooding station of Yuathet on March 7th, and, after the usual delays caused by grounding on sandbanks, we reached Mandalay on the 10th, and found the steamer Yunnan about to start for Rangoon. We were almost amused to hear the various and contradictory rumours which had been flying about this most gossiping of capitals as to our dangers and escapes. An account of the attack, as being made by Kakhyens and disaffected Chinese, had been published in a printed Chinese broadsheet, which professed to give the most recent and exact information concerning the mission, a curious illustration of the interest which the subject possessed for the Chinese traders of Mandalay. The Yunnan conveyed us to Rangoon, where the welcome of the Chief Commissioner and the hearty congratulations, on our safety, of our other friends were not lessened by our having been compelled to return re infecta, leaving the task, it is to be hoped, soon and successfully to be accomplished by another mission.