Chapter VII.). Regarding the work of the expedition and the manner

in which it should be carried out, the Chief Commissioner gave full instructions. The punishment of the Sawbwa of Hpon Kan and of his people, unless they made timely submission, was the duty imposed on the force. Notice was to be given to the Kachins that villages which helped the advance of the force would be protected; villages from or near which any opposition was offered would be destroyed; and on those Kachins who would not submit as much damage as possible would be inflicted by destruction of their houses and property. In any case, the village where the Sawbwa had his residence was to be occupied; and a fine in money and guns was to be exacted from him. The amount of the fine was to be fixed by Mr. Shaw with reference to the Sawbwa's means and to the amount of damage done in his raids. All captives held by the Kachins were to be surrendered. If this was impossible the fines payable by the custom of the country in such cases were to be exacted. In the event of the Sawbwa rejecting the terms his village was to be destroyed.

In view of the former failures, strict orders were given that negotiations with the Sawbwa were not to be opened until Karwan, his capital village, was occupied by the British force. There, and nowhere else, were the terms of surrender to be settled. And it was added that "under no circumstances should Mr. Shaw advise the return of the force or the suspension of operations until the objects of the expedition should have been accomplished and the Sawbwa's village occupied." The Chief Commissioner added that "if it were possible the force should remain in the Sawbwa's village for some days so as to make his humiliation apparent to his people and to the neighbouring tribes." Orders were issued by the Commander-in-Chief of Madras, Sir Charles Arbuthnot, at the Chief Commissioner's request, for the troops to remain at Hpon Kan until the Chief Commissioner should be satisfied that they could be withdrawn without bad results.

The troops were divided into two columns, and, avoiding the direct road where the Kachins might be prepared to oppose us, they took different routes, and after very slight opposition Karwan was occupied. Our loss was two killed and three wounded. The Sawbwa did not make his appearance. Karwan and several other villages were therefore destroyed. On the 23rd of April the Sawbwa of Washa, a neighbouring village of another tribe, and the elders of Neinsin, one of the Hpon Kan villages, the headman of which was detained as a hostage in Bhamo, came forward and volunteered to bring in the headmen of Hpon Kan. They were given two days to make good their offer.

On the 25th of April they came back with two of the Karwan elders, who accepted the terms imposed by the Deputy Commissioner, and promised to bring in the Sawbwa and other elders. The terms imposed were that fines for various murders and for the burning of Mansi should be paid and fifty guns surrendered and captives restored. The money fine was paid in full and the guns delivered. The Chief Commissioner thereupon sanctioned the withdrawal of the troops, and the main body left Karwan on the 15th of May. Before the evacuation of the place the headmen of the Hpon Kan villages entered into a solemn agreement to cease from raiding. This promise has been kept.

The objects of the expedition were thus accomplished, and these tribes did not give trouble again.

While General Wolseley was at Karwan, Mr. Daly, the Superintendent of the Northern Shan States, accompanied by Mr. Sherriff, a representative of the Rangoon Chamber of Commerce, came to Nam Kham, on the left bank of the Shwèli, the chief town of a small State subordinate to North Hsenwi. It was a good opportunity of joining hands and examining the road between Hpon Kan and Nam Kham.[55] Taking a sufficient escort, General Wolseley went by a circuitous route, to avoid a neck of Chinese territory which runs down between the Bhamo district and North Hsenwi. Leaving Karwan on the 2nd of May, Wolseley made Nam Kham on the 8th. After two days he returned to Bhamo with the troops.

It may be added, before closing this chapter, that the Kachin tribes, whom it was necessary to subdue with such severity, have been for many years furnishing excellent recruits to the military police; and Kachin detachments, officered by men of their own race, can now be entrusted with the charge of frontier outposts.

FOOTNOTES:

[52] Palaungs are a Mon-Anam tribe, found mostly in the uplands of the Northern Shan States (_Upper Burma Gazetteer_, vol. iv., p. 179).

[53] In justice to Saw Möng it should be noted that he has been restored to his own State of Yawnghwè, and has shown much administrative power.

[54] General Sir George Wolseley, G.C.B.

[55] Nam Kham is the place where Mrs. Leslie Milne resided for fifteen months to gather materials for her charming book, "Shans at Home." Writing of the Northern Shans States she says (page 186): "Before the country was annexed to Great Britain, in 1886, each chief governed his own State, and the King of Burma was his overlord, to whom he was obliged to pay a heavy tribute. Burman officials terrorized over the Shans, and, owing to heavy and unjust taxation, the people were in a perpetual state of rebellion against their chiefs. The chiefs were constantly fighting amongst themselves, and were also trying to free themselves from the Burman rule." The condition of the country under Burma has been described in the historical chapter of her book, written by the Rev. Wilbur Willis Cochrane, of the American Baptist Mission. She goes on: "I should like to draw attention to the unhappy state of the people under the invasion of the Kachins, who were slowly but surely taking possession of the hill country." Then Mrs. Milne quotes from "Parliamentary papers for 1859-76." It is sufficient to give here only a part of the quotation: "They (the Kachins) have ousted many Shan tribes, and wherever they appear they assume the same character of 'lords of all they can reach,' only to be appeased by some form of 'blackmail.'... They inspire such terror that in the neighbouring plains no Burman or Shan will venture alone, or even in company, unarmed along the roads within their reach." "This state of affairs," Mrs. Milne concludes, "lasted until the British annexation, and our Government have worked what one might almost call a miracle; for, the first time since the beginning of Shan history, peace prevails all over the country."