The Assam Border of Tibet

Abstract

IN November I932 Captain Kingdon Ward asked me to accompany him on a journey into south-eastern Tibet. Needless to say, I accepted with alacrity, feeling more than fortunate to have the chance of learning at first hand from so experienced and well-known an explorer. The objects of the expedition were two: to search for new and rare plants, and to survey the country from Rima onwards. The botanical side of the expedition was wholly Captain Kingdon Ward's province, and it was my job to make the map. At the end of February 1933 we travelled up from Calcutta to Sadiya-or rather to Saikhoa Ghat, the railhead-by train. Saikhoa Ghat is no more than a tiny village on the left bank of the Lohit, and we covered the last 8 miles from there to Sadiya by car, crossing the river halfway by a ferry, which consists of two native boats connected by a platform. From Sadiya there are three possible routes through the mountains into Tibet. The first of these is the valley of the Dihang, or Tsang Po, the main stream of the Brahmaputra. This was closed to us on account of the hostile attitude of the Abors, and we should never have got through that way, even if the Indian Government had given us permission to try. The second, the Dibang Valley, besides being comparatively short, and with a pass at its head, is almost uninhabited, and we should have had great difficulty in procuring coolies. The third and only practicable route is the Lohit Valley, which leads up into Zayul, the most south-easterly province of Tibet. The Lohit Valley is chiefly inhabited by two Mishmi clans, the Digaru and the Miju, which speak different languages and are rather jealous of each other. Formerly they were as hard to control as the Abors, but of late years they have acquired a certain amount of respect for the Government, and now cause little or no trouble. In the cold weather numbers of them come down into Sadiya to find work in the tea-gardens of Assam, bringing goods to trade in the market, such as musk, skins, roots, and certainly quantities of opium. Then, in the spring, they start back on their journey home, and it is at this time that it is least difficult to get hold of coolies to take one through their country.