r
has reigned, it has not interfered with my trading along the banks
of the river; but now that the Burmese have set up their authority,
I shall, for a time anyhow, be obliged to give up my operations
there; for they have evinced considerable hostility to us--have made
raids near Rungpoor, on our side of the river, and have pulled down
a British flag on an island in the Brahmaputra. We have taken, in
consequence, the principality of Cachar under our protection--indeed
its two princes, seeing that the Burmese were beginning to invade
their country, invited us to take this step--and we thus occupy the
passes from Manipur into the low country of Sylhet."

"I wonder that you have been able to trade in Manipur, uncle, as
the Burmese have been masters there."

"I am not trading with the capital itself, and the Burmese have
been too occupied with their affairs in Assam to exercise much
authority in the country. Besides, you see, there has not been war
between the two countries. Our merchants at Rangoon still carry on
their trade up the Irrawaddy; and in Assam, this spring, the only
trouble I had was that I had to pay somewhat higher tolls than I
had done before. However, now that Cachar is under our protection,
I hope that I shall make up for my loss of trade, in Assam, by
doing better than before in that province."

"I thought you called it Kathee, uncle?"

"So it is generally named but, as it is spoken of as Cachar in the
proclamation assuming the protectorate, I suppose it will be called
so in future; but all these names, out here, are spelt pretty much
according to fancy."

While this conversation had been going on, the boat had been
running fast down the river, passing several European vessels
almost as if they had been standing still.

"I should not have thought that a boat like this would pass these
large ships," Stanley said.

"We have a good deal to learn in the art of sailing, yet," his
uncle replied. "A great many of these Indian dhows can run away
from a square-rigged ship, in light weather. I don't know whether
it is the lines of their hulls or the cut of the sails, but there
is no doubt about their speed. They seem to skim over the water,
while our bluff-bowed craft shove their way through it. I suppose,
some day, we shall adopt these long sharp bows; when we do, it will
make a wonderful difference in our rate of sailing. Then, too,
these craft have a very light draft of water but, on the other
hand, t