The romantic East: Burma, Assam, & Kashmir - Khamkoo

ASSAM 109
railway cuttings are certainly too steep,
and work
is
going on all along this section reducing their
pitch.
The natives work with a sort of hoe called
a khodali, and are usually armed with a big knife
similar to the Burmese dha, which they
call a dao.
The valley broadens between the 278th post and
Harangajao, which is between the 282nd and 283rd
post, where the rail level is 489 feet above the sea.
There is plenty of big game
to be found in
Assam, including rhinoceros, elephant, leopards,
the wild buffalo, and tigers. Shortly before we
came through, a man had been found dead on
the railway, mauled by a tiger,
and we saw at
Harangajao the body of a leopard which was killed
on the line only a few hours before we arrived
there. At this station two engines are attached to
the train, one in front and one in back, and the real
ascent begins. The gradient most of the way is
1 in 37, and there is a succession of tunnels and
viaducts up to the summit, which is
15, just before Jatinga
in tunnel No.
station in the Cachar hills
(294th mile), where the rail level is 1855 feet above
the sea. The hills are less thickly wooded on the
other side of the watershed, but there is more