These three items with my cloak and cork mattress--which is also a very necessary adjunct in such a damp climate--amounted to thirty-one pounds, leaving only nine pounds for a change of clothes, plate, knife, fork, etc .-- not too much for a four months' campaign.

However, 'needs must,' and it is surprising how many things one considers absolute necessities under ordinary circumstances turn out to have been luxuries when we are obliged to dispense with them.
The advance portion of the column did not arrive at Tipai Mukh, only eighty-four miles from Cachar, until the 9th December, which will give an idea of the enforced slowness of our progress.

Tipai Mukh proved a very suitable place for our depot: it was situated at the junction of two rivers, the Tipai and the Barak; thickly-wooded hills rose precipitously on all sides, but on the right bank of the Barak there was sufficient level space for all our requirements.

With the help of local coolies, the little Gurkhas were not long in running up hospitals and storesheds; bamboo, the one material used in Lushailand for every conceivable purpose, whether it be a house, a drinking vessel, a bridge, a woman's ear-ring, or a musical instrument, grew in profusion on the hillside.

A trestle bridge was thrown across the Tipai in a few hours, and about that bridge I have rather an amusing story to relate.