The Mishmee Hills. An account of a journey made in an attempt to penetrate Thibet from Assam to open new routes for commerce

Front matter

Lincoln's Inn Fields A SPORTING EPISODE. THE MISHMEE HILLS AN ACCOUNT OF A JOURNEY MADE IN AN ATTEMPT TO PENETRATE THIBET FROM ASSAM TO OPEN NEW ROUTES FOR COMMERCE By T. T. COOPER, F.R.G.S. Acting Political Agent at Bhamo Author of ' Travels of a Pioneer of Commerce i?i Pig-tail and Petticoats' &>c. ILLUSTRATED Henry S. King & Co 65 Cornhill & 12 Paternoster Row, London (All rights reserved) TO THE RIGHT HON. LORD STANLEY OF ALDERLEY AS A TOKEN OF ADMIRATION FOR HIS ZEALOUS INTEREST IN ASIATIC PROGRESS AND OF GRATITUDE FOR MUCH PERSONAL KINDNESS E.(jis §Jook is 1)Y HIS OliLIGED AND HUMBLE SERVANT TIIE AUTHOR LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Land Leeches ....... Vignette on Titte-Page A Shooting Episode Frontispiece River Scene on the Bramapootra . . '. Tofacepage 161 Each Man made for a Tree' .... ,, 16S Our Camp at the Bramapootra .... ,, PAGE '3 jj CONTENTS. — ♦ —

Chapter I. Preliminary

Retrospect— Assam Tea for Thibet — Start for Calcutta— The ' Clan Alpine' — Fire! Fire! — Struggle for Boats — Brave Chinese Women — The Steamer Saved — Ships' Boats I

Chapter II

A SPORTING EPISODE. Indian Oriental Character — Introduction to Lord Mayo — The Viceroy on Trade-routes — A Shooting Expedition — The Camp — Pigsticking — Chase of a Leopard — A Brave Old Boar — My First Tiger — A Desperate Charge — The Wounded Mahout — Return .

Chapter VIII. The Assamese

Fever — Bosser Fishing — The Assamese People — Habits — Houses — Dress — Religion — Morals — Opium — Difficulties of Repressing Opium Traffic — Experiences in China — Popular Mistakes — Preparations for a Start ........ 96

Chapter IX. Debrughur To Sudiya

Our Dugout — The Domes — My Blanket Tent — Skilful Navigation — The Pobah — The Camp — Pobah Stockade — The Sahib's Tree — The Dehong River — Mullet Fishing — A River Scene — Forest Echoes ........... 109

Chapter X. Sudiya

The Frontier Post — Break of the Rains — My Abor Visitors — Panic in the Bazaar — The Abor Tribe — Frontier Wild Tribes — The Pension System — Chinese Policy — Visit from a Tiger — Gur New Interpreter — Wanted a Guide —The Khamtee Chief . . . Contents. VII PAGE 166

Chapter XI. The Khamtee Village

The Tenga-panee — Gregory Island — Mahseer Fishing — Chowsam's Village — Cool Reception — First Interview — Chowsam — Gin and Politeness — The Chiefs Consent Gained — Khamtee People — Clan System — Houses — The Virgins' House — The Bachelors' House — Morals — Customs — Social Laws — Return . . .136

Chapter XII. The Tenga-panee

Native Officials — Chowsam's Terms — Return to Tenga-panee — Pleasant Reception — Bachelors' Quarters — The Priest and his Omens — Attacked by Monkeys — Torchlight Fishing — A Pastoral Visit — Our Coolies — The Departure — The Medicine Chest — Farewell Addresses — My Elder Brother . . .152

Chapter XIII. The Bramakund

Frontier Forests — Hulluk Monkeys — Mhitton — Land Leeches — Honey Hunting — The Buffalo Bull — Camlang-panee — Trying the Sahib — A Night in a Nullah — Edible Beetles — The Brama kund — Sacred Fish — Mishmee Message — The Mishmee Tribes — Chullah Cottahs — Degaroos — Dress — Arms — Ornaments .

Chapter XIV. The Mishmee Hills

Difficult Travelling — The Negro Interpreter — Waxed Meal — Short Commons — Mishmee Pork — Kunsong — Mishmee Houses — Heads — The Brahma-panee — Rope Bridges — The Landslip — Supply of Fish — Chief Poso — Leech-bites — The Chiefs Jester — A Churlish Host — Mishmee Demons 1S5

Chapter XV. Christmas With The Mejus

A Dangerous Reckoning — The Negro Disarmed — 111 Feeling — Fever — Chief Discouraged — Pushing on — My Bearers — Khamtee Kindness — Kaysong — A Welcome Pig — Mishmee Improvidence — Mode of Living — Hospitable Host — The Mysterious Guest — An Unwelcome Message — A Deep Plot —Larking — A Christmas Feast. ........... PAGE Contents. Vlll

Chapter XVI. The Boundary Mountain

Highest Elevation — The Teta Plant — A Grand Prospect — A Cold Night — A Meeting — Envoys from Roemah — Prohibition to Advance — The Dog and Knife — Thibetan Officials on the Alert — A Parley — Bulldogs and Jungnah — Must we go Back ? — A Concession — Thibet Closed — The Camli Village — A Nocturnal Alarm — The Spied Spy — The Barricade — The Advance — Singular Monuments — The Prun Village — Mishmee Villages — The Plundered Traders — Bowsong — Curious Greeting — A Sahib's Word — Courteous Welcome — New Year's Eve . .' . 213

Chapter XVII. The Council Of Chiefs

Mine Host — Killing a Yak — Mishmee Marriages — The Price of a Wife — Ceremonials — Social Laws — Religion — Philip and the Thibetans — The Khamtee Traders — Respect for the Chief — Our Officials — Assemblage of Chiefs — Bowsong's Oration — Difficult Questions — A Dangerous Dilemma — Pacific Conclusion — Deputation of Chiefs to Sudiya — Peace with the Mejus — Road-making — Brick Tea for Thibet — Seng-Song — True Hospitality — Rifle Practice — A Lucky Shot — My Lame Ankle — The Soothsayer's Prescription — Homewards ....... 233

CHAPTER XVIIL THE RETURN.

The Dehong and the Tsan-po — Joined by Bowsong — A Surgical Operation — A Painful March — Gomarshee Berries — Recross the Boundary — Ticks — The Negro Again — A Close Shave — Unable to Walk — Welcome Tomeloes — A Herd of Elephants — A Tiger's Serenade — Hair Leeches — Chowsam's Village — Triumphant Entrance — Voyage to Sudiya — Wild Dogs — Circling a Deer — An Assamese Thunderstorm — Huge Hailstones — Welcome Back to Sudiya — Arrival of the Chiefs — Departure for Calcutta — Home ........... 253

Appendix

Sfeel c ii Ma p OF THE MISHMEE COUNTRY NEW ROUTES FOR COMMERCE.

Chapter I. Preliminary

Retrospect — Assam Tea for Thibet — Start for Calcutta — The ' Clan Alpine ' — Fire ! Fire ! — Struggle for Boats — Brave Chinese Women — The Steamer Saved — Ships' Boats. IT was in the firm belief that the extension of British commerce in China could alone lead to the establishment of that industrial progress among her people which is required to save them from decay as a nation, that the writer started from Shanghai on a pioneering journey. The object of this was, if possible, to determine a prac ticable trade route between India and China, whereby the millions of these neighbouring giant empires might enter into commercial intercourse. The details of that journey have been already submitted to the public ; but in order to make clear the motive of the travels described in these pages, I may recall the fact that, at the end of six months, after passing safely through the Empire of China, from east to west, traversing the almost impass- I!

Preliminary. 2 able snowy ranges of Eastern Thibet, and running the gauntlet among the nomad Mongol banditti infesting the valleys pf this wild frontier region, I found myself at the town of Bathang, some two hundred miles from Sudiya, the frontier post of Northern Assam. Although the journey had demonstrated the impracticability of a trade route over the rugged mountains, covered with perpetual snow, yet a natural wish to be the first Englishman who had penetrated overland from China to India prompted the attempt to complete the interval which lay between Bathang and Sudiya. This attempt was foiled by the combined action of Chinese jealousy and the intolerance of the Lamas of Thibet. For many centuries China has supplied Thibet with six or eight million pounds of brick tea annually. This article being a necessary of life to the Thibetans, the Chinese Government, who hold the wholesale monopoly of the export tea trade, have granted the retail monopoly to the Lama priests, who, by this means, hold the lay population of Thibet at their mercy.

Thus the Chinese protect their tea trade, and the Lama priests their religious and political influence over the Thibetans. It is plain, therefore, that the opening up of commercial intercourse with the Europeans of Assam, that tea garden of India, would threaten at once the Chinese tea trade and the priestcraft of Lamanism ; the English pioneer of commerce must therefore be prevented from reaching India at any hazard. Accordingly, I was arrested by two hundred Lama soldiers, obliged to change my route, and ultimately thrown into a Chinese prison in the city of Wcisee foo, Assatn Tea for Thibet. 3 from which, having been rescued by the interference of some friendly tribes, I retraced my steps to Shanghai. While travelling in Thibet, I had been struck with the vast importance of the tea trade between that country and China, and now the project of diverting at least a considerable portion of that trade to Assam from China forced itself upon me as at all events to be attempted.

A few weeks spent at Shanghai, amidst the kind hos pitality of many warm friends, entirely removed all traces of the hardships endured during the previous twelve months, and I found myself already impatient to begin to attack Thibet on the side of Assam, hoping that the espionage of the Chinese might be evaded, and the way prepared for such intercourse between our Indian tea garden and Thibet as might hereafter result in an extensive trade. As Calcutta was to be the starting-point, it was necessary to conduct thither my party, consisting of four individuals. First, faithful George Philip, a Chinese Christian, who, as interpreter, had shared all the difficulties and dangers of the previous journey, but who, nothing daunted by past perils, eagerly volunteered to accompany his master on the new undertaking.

Next, a Thibetan boy, named Masu, about fourteen years of age, who could speak Chinese, and whom I had pur chased of his mother for eight taels.* An assistant interpreter was added, named Owhalee, a Mahomedan, from Bombay, who, having served some years in the native army at Hankow, could speak Chinese fluently, * A tael equal to 6s. Sd. B Preliminary. 4 and might thus prove a useful auxiliary in case of possible intercourse with Mahomedans from Yunnan. Lastly, a Chinese lad, named Lowtzang, who was en gaged to act as general servant. A free passage having been offered to myself and followers to Hong Kong by the kindness of my friend Mr. Dexwell, of the American firm, Messrs. A. Heard & Company, we embarked on board the good steamer ' Erl King,' and arrived safely at that port. Here we transhipped ourselves to the ' Clan Alpine,' bound for Calcutta, berths on board of this vessel having been placed at my disposal.

In these days of steam and travel, a voyage down the treacherous China Sea, through the Straits of Malacca, and up the Gulf of Bengal, is looked upon with as little interest as a trip across the German Ocean, save when the traveller chances to encounter one of the ' specialites ' of those seas in the shape of a tai-fung,* or cyclone ; then he feels conscious of such an awful warring of the elements, and such an intense desire to avoid like encounters for the future, as is sufficient to invest his voyage with an interest never to be forgotten. Our voyage to Calcutta, though it was not rendered exciting by a tai-fung (as these convulsions of Nature only occur during the three hot months of June, July, and August), has, nevertheless, indelibly impressed itself on my mind. We had left Hong Kong behind us two days, and the good steamer ' Clan Alpine ' looked, as I watched * Typhoon.

Fire ! Fire ! 5 her by the light of a full moon from a seat in one of the quarter boats, like some sporting mammoth rolling along the smooth surface of the sea. It was a fine night, calm and quiet ; even the booming sound of the paddles, as they beat the water, seemed less loud than usual. Ah ! those glorious tropical nights spent on the ocean ; who can remember them without unconsciously recalling their soothing effect ? On this evening I retired to my cabin, feeling calmer than usual, for the cool and pleasant night had succeeded an ex ceedingly hot day. The long hours of the night had passed, and I was lying in that state between waking and sleeping, wherein sounds, though heard indistinctly, seem to repeat themselves like echoes — sometimes near, at other times far off. In this way I had heard eight bells (four o'clock) struck, and the soft sound seemed floating away in the distance, when, in horrible contrast, an agonised yell caused me to leap from the berth, and rush on deck scarcely awake.

All was still ; but, looking towards the forepart of the vessel, I saw issuing from the forehatch way a long, bright column of fire. The shriek of ' Ho ! ' (' Fire ! ') which had roused me, had been uttered by one of the two hundred Chinese passengers on board. Fascinated for a moment, I could not take my gaze off the flame as it leaped up perpendicularly through the calm morning air, while a lurid glare, lighting up the decks, grew in brightness as the flame increased in volume and roar. Suddenly I spoke, as though addressing some one at Preliminary. my elbow, ' We are on fire,' then slowly descended to the cabin ; having dressed carefully, and secured my papers, watch, and revolver, I returned to the deck, where now confusion and terror reigned. Above the moaning and screaming of some twenty Chinese women gathered about the cabin door, was heard the hoarse but loud voice of the captain giving orders' to the crew of Calassees running about the decks, who, with terrified faces, rendered hideous by the glare of the fire, looked like demons attending on the fire-god, busy with the destruction of our vessel.

I could not remain idle amidst such a scene, so hurried forward to the captain, who stood, pale but stern, directing the working of the fire-engines, and asked him if I could be of any use. Without taking his eyes off the flame which shot up through the hatchway in one unbroken roaring column, twenty feet high, he told me to go and look after the Chinese women, and keep them quiet ; having received his orders, I felt from that moment quite cool, and returned to the stern of the steamer. It was just daylight, and the women recognising me at once surrounded and clung to me with all the energy of despair. They were now perfectly quiet and dumb with terror, while one or two of the elder women in hoarse whispers asked me to save them, and in trying to comfort the poor creatures I forgot my own fear, and succeeded in making them all sit down on the deck.

I had scarcely ceased explaining to them that their only safety depended on remaining perfectly still, when a slight breeze having sprung up caught the tall column Struggle for Boats. 7 of flame still roaring from the hold of the vessel, and forced it downwards along the deck. This drove the crew, hitherto engaged with the fire-engines and buckets, towards the stern. As the heat of the flame reached us, the calmness of my charges gave way, arid, mixing with the now panic-stricken crew and Chinamen, they rushed to .he boats. The scene that ensued was horrible ; the boats were crovded with twice as many as they could carry, and dozens of poor wretches, fearful lest they should be left behind, still struggled to get in, while the more fortunate occuoants resisted them most savagely. Seeing that it would be useless to enter any of the boats I stood and contemplated the awful struggle for safety.

All order and discipline were at an end ; those of the crew who could not succeed in getting into any of the boats made frantic efforts to lower them into the sea ; each n.an worked independently of the other, so that some of the boats were dropped from the davits and smashed on touching the water, while another, suddenly let go at the bow, hung to the davits by the stern, and the crowd of people in her fell out and struggled together in the waves. Five of the six boats in the ship were thus rendered useless, and more than a hundred creatures were hanging on to ropes, hen-coops, and the oars and masts of the swamped boats floating round the ship which had lost her way, owing to the engines having been stopped on the breaking out of the fire. The only remaining boat in the ship, a very large life- Preliminary. boat, lying on the guards of the paddle-box, had so far resisted the efforts of the people to launch her.

When it appeared certain that the last and best boat in the ship was in danger of being lost, I hurried forward to tfce captain, who, with the European officers and engineers, were still bravely struggling with the flames, and told him that five boats were useless, and the last one in a fair way of being disabled ; when he heard this he rushed aft to the arm rack, and bade me and my three Chirjese, who kept close to us, and were perfectly calm, to arm ourselves with cutlasses and guard the lifeboat until his return. There were two other passengers on board, so these gentlemen, together with myself and followers, after a short struggle with the men who were making frantic but idiotic efforts to launch the boat, succeeded in keeping possession of her until the captain and some of the engineers came, and in a cool manner set to \rark to launch her.

This was soon effected, and six men were thrown into her, including my Chinese followers. The captain then desired his three passengers to follow, and placed me in charge, with orders to pull off from the ship, and commanded me not to approach until he beckoned. He and his officers then returned to the fire. When we had got away from the ship, the yells and curses of those on board were dreadful, and a hundred hands were held up, some entreating us to return, and others cursing us for leaving them. The minutes that we lay off that burning ship were most painful ; a number of despairing fellow-creatures were left there with no The Steamer Saved. 9 other alternative than death by fire or water, while we in the boat were at least only exposed to gradual starvation on the open sea. Any impulse to try and save the lives of those on board was stifled by the knowledge that if our boat approached the side of the vessel a hundred desperate creatures would throw themselves into it and swamp her.

Thus for nearly two hours did we he off the burning ship, watching the maddened antics of those despairing ones on her decks. In the meanwhile we were joined by another boat, one of those swamped in launching, which had been baled out by the Chinese women, a number of whom, clinging to the davit ropes, gallantly helped themselves, while a crowd of men ran about the decks utterly helpless. I was greatly pleased to see the women comparatively safe under the care of the third officer. Their bravery in rescuing this boat was grand ; they had run great risk in the successful attempt, and one only out of the twenty on board was drowned. At last the volume of smoke from the vessel began to clear away, and we could see the Europeans calmly at work about the decks ; shortly the smoke died away altogether.

Then a cheer rang out from the plucky men who had saved our ship from the flames, and the captain hailed us from the paddle-box. On going alongside he told us that the steamer had a great deal of water in her, and to prevent the boiler fires being drowned, it was necessary that her engines should be set in motion, to pump the water out. Preliminary. 10 Having told this welcome news, he desired me to pull round and pick up as many of the people who were floating about on oars and spars, &c, as we could take into the lifeboat. This was a pleasant task, andwe soon had our boat so full that for safety we were obliged to make for the steamer, which steamed round us in a circle, to get rid of our living freight. This done, we picked up the rest, and then were taken on board again. The vessel looked a wreck, but she was soon cleaned up, and by noon we were steaming away on our voyage.

From subsequent inquiries it was ascertained that the fire originated in the fore-hold, which was filled with crates of Chinese crockeryware packed with straw, and among these a Celestial had stowed himself away for the purpose of enjoying his opium smoke, and the little lamp used for lighting the opium having been over turned after he fell asleep, set fire to the straw. Considering the length of time that the fire burned, and the combustible material which fed it, the ship suffered little damage ; the woodwork of her' fore com partment was nearly all burnt, some of the beams nearly through, while the deck in some places was warped, from the heat below, and the cargo in this part of the vessel was entirely destroyed. Our casualties, considering the frightful panic of the Chinese and crew of Calassees, were very few ; if I remember rightly, nine persons were reported to have been drowned, among whom was only one woman.

But for the calm prevailing, the loss of life would have been dreadful ; and but for this fact, and the great Ships Boats. 11 bravery of the European officers on board, as fine a vessel as ever floated would have been lost, and, in all human probability, I should not have lived to tell the tale, for we were three hundred miles from the nearest land. Considering the number of souls constantly afloat on the ocean, hundreds of miles away from land, and the accidents so frequently occurring which render the safety of the passengers dependent on boats, a brief digression on the subject of ships' boats may be ex cused. Having made perhaps as many as thirty voyages in as many different ships, I have never felt in any one case that, had it been necessary to take to the boats, we should have been saved by them.

Twice I have been in a position in which it was necessary to lower boats. Once on a voyage up the China Sea, when, our vessel having struck on a coral reef off the Paracel group of islands, two of the three boats on board were lowered, but one had the plug out, and filled before she got away from the ship's side, and the other was so leaky that two men were kept baling the whole time that she was employed in laying out an anchor. In the case of the ' Clan Alpine,' although her boats were fitted with oars, masts, water kegs, and lockers, there was neither bread nor water on board of them, and if the fire had spread rapidly we should scarcely have had time or opportunity to get provisions on board. In many other cases I have known that not a Preliminary. 12 single boat in the ship has been in readiness for lowering, and many times on board our great ocean steamers I have trembled at the knowledge that much precious time would be lost in provisioning boats, were any emergency to require their use.

I often thought that the pleasure of the voyage would have been greater had I known that every boat had bread and water in her. There is no reason why every ship's boat should not be fitted up with oars, masts, and air-tight provision lockers, kept constantly full ; nor why a weekly inspection of boats should not take place on board of every ship, especially on our mail steamers, and the result of such inspection be entered in the log book, on the responsibility of the captain. It would add to the efficiency of the boats in case of need, which is greatly to be desired. In less than ten days after the occurrence of the fire we arrived at Calcutta, where I was soon hospitably entertained by one of the merchant princes of India. '3

Chapter II

A SPORTING EPISODE. Indian Oriental Character — Introduction to Lord Mayo — The Viceroy on Trade-routes — A Shooting Expedition — The Camp — Pigsticking — Chase of a Leopard — A Brave old Boar — My first Tiger — A desperate Charge — The Wounded Mahout — Return. It was just ten years since I had quitted India, as a very young man, carrying away loose and hastily formed impressions of the country and people. Amongst the most distinct remembrances of that first visit were those which probably most young men take with them after a year or two spent in the country, namely, that it is very hot, and that mosquitoes and niggers were created solely for the annoyance of Europeans. Even now, my opinion as to the final cause of the insect is unchanged ; but with regard to the nigger he exists no more in my mind ; in his stead there is the man, representative of the millions who collectively compose a great, industrious, and peaceable people.

This change in opinion as to the native of India was not the result of impressions hastily formed on again landing in the country, but rather the conclusion derived from a long intercourse with the peoples of other great Oriental countries — the Burmese, Malays, Chinese, and Japanese. Residence among them, and also a slight knowledge of their languages, have enabled me to appreciate the Oriental character. Everywhere superstitious, more or less ignorant, and extremely sensitive to the slightest wrong ; when roused by real or fancied injustice, or an insult to their religious prejudices, turbulent, and cruel in the extreme ; but where governed with justice and properly protected, always peace-loving, industrious, law-abiding, and contented. Nowhere in the East will this opinion receive stronger confirmation than in British India, in spite of occasional flashes from the fast-expiring flame of fanaticism, and the excusable pride of the rising generation, conscious of its growing freedom from the prejudice and ignorance of ages.

Some may consider the mention of these impressions of Oriental character somewhat stale and unprofitable, but they are recorded under the deep conviction that to this view of the Oriental character, and by acting on it, are owing the success and safety with which I have travelled amongst many peoples and tribes of Asia. A day or two after arriving at Calcutta, an official invitation to dine at Government House brought me, for the first time, into personal intercourse with that distin guished Viceroy, the lamented EarL of Mayo. Death gives the survivors the privilege of paying, without being charged with adulation, their tribute of admiration to departed greatness. Thus I may recall the urbanity of the kindly host and the thoughtful interest of the illus- Interview with Earl of Mayo. 15 trious statesman, which combined to elicit many stories of the travels in China of which he had heard, and the hopes of the projected journey.

While expressing his regret that the Government could not identify itself with this scheme, he displayed the warmest interest in the question of trade-routes between China and India, and desired my attendance the next day for a more thorough discussion of the subject. Attending at Government House at the time ap pointed, I found his Excellency and several distinguished officials of his Government ready to enter upon the sub ject, the importance of which had evidently impressed itself on the great mind which then influenced the destinies of India. His Excellency at once led the way to a table, on which lay a large map of Asia, and for nearly an hour sharply catechised me on all the countries I had visited. Population, products, routes, rivers, and mountains were all noticed with an accuracy which showed a knowledge of Asiatic geography very unusual ; never before or since have I conversed with any person, on the subject of trade-routes in Asia, who was more completely at home on this topic than Lord Mayo.

At the termination of the interview, his lordship thanked me for the information afforded, and, with a warm shake of the hand, assured me of his hearty good wishes for my future success. While writing these pages, after a rest from the self imposed task of trying to carry the blessings of com merce to the more secluded peoples of Asia, I feel rich in the remembrance that my humble endeavours gained the sympathy and approval of so great a man as the late Lord Mayo. As business would compel me to remain in Calcutta for a month or so, before finally setting out, my host proposed a shooting expedition up country ; and as Bengal tigers were to be our game, I eagerly embraced the opportunity of seeing a little tiger-shooting. The district of Maldah was to be the scene of our exploits, and the other members of the party were to rendezvous on the banks of the Ganges, above Rampore Boleah, from which point we were to shoot along the banks of the river inland, as far as the ruins of the old city of Ma,ldah.

All preparations having been made, Mr. Skinner and myself left Calcutta by rail, and at the end of a day's journey, visited one of his indigo plantations, near the banks of the Ganges ; a short ride next morning brought us to the river, where a large boat awaited us, embarking on board of which we continued up river, and reached the rendezvous late in the afternoon. Several of the party had already arrived, and the camp, which was pitched under some large tamarind trees on the river bank, presented a most lively scene. In and out of a spacious tent erected under the shade of one of the largest trees, the native servants were hurrying in all the bustle of preparing dinner for the sahibs, while some twenty elephants, lazily swinging their trunks, and attended by their noisy mahouts, were picketed here and there under the trees.