field diary 1832 deciphering problems

[JanSeifert]

2.5

this is from the margins, so please excuse the blurry images, especially at the edge.
»
Sengmai, this
village at which
we stopped is now
inconsiderable
but from the [??]
of the vestiges of
fruit trees it seems
once to have been
very large. The
inhabitants have
only been very lately
converted to Hin-
«

[arthurk]

2.4 - abounding

2.5 - extent

[JanSeifert]

2.6

last one for today. promise!
»
escaped Assamese
who have found
their way back [??]
there 3 or 4 months.
an old woman is the
only one who was
carried off. The [??]
have [xxxx] been
[??]  of [??] [??]
who since dead
were carried
«
(<next page> away by a party of Singphos...)

[arthurk]

2.6

I'm not totally certain of this, and you can probably judge better whether it fits the context:

...their way back within
these 3 or 4 months.

... The rest
have since been
born of Asamese(?) parents,
who were since dead,
they were carried

I can't work out the mark/letters at the end after 'carried'.

[JanSeifert]

Again, thank you.
»within« fits resonable, so does the following »these«. The signs after »carried« suggest that the margins will go on on the next page, I think. I will check this in the original as well.

I will keep it for now in this state and try to make new enlargements of the more difficult parts when I am back in London (being now out in the field ~150km away from the area dealt with in this diary). Since these were the first few pages, I did not think yet about the problems while  photographing. For almost all later margins I have better details.

For the context: my guess is the 500 Assamese were children of Assamese (slave) parents. Ava <the Burmese>, did invade Assam in the early 19th century and took countless as slaves back to their country, where they were used for building projects like large temples and roads. The old woman then was one of the survivors. But there is still more to the story, I guess, as on the next page Singphos come into the play (Singphos settled mostly in the area between Ava and the Nagas, in the Northwest of todays Myanmar. They have since moved on, further up North).

The story slowly unfolds – it's a fascinating read, especially so close by. And only 187 years later 

j.

[arthurk]

Glad to have helped - post again when you need to!

[JanSeifert]

todays problems. not many.

3.1

»
On our left we had the great western
ridge of Munnipore. Many of the
peaks of which are 5000 ft above (about?) the
valley and upwards of 8000 above the zea
but their appearance is not that of
any extraordinary height - for the
«

this may be a writing mistake

[JanSeifert]

3.2

»
the next region was illuminated
by the rising sun. The third [??]
was covered by fog and mist and once
[all?] occasional glimpses were
attained of the outline of the
«

[JanSeifert]

3.3

»
oaks. Some of them which had escaped
the periodical burnings of the grass
were pine (fine?) trees*, [or?] winding through
«

3.3a

»
* I measured one
- 9 ft circumference
and the trunk was [??]
«