On this visit, Robert had two main objectives. The first was to meet Bisa Gaam, the Singpho king; the second was to go further upstream and meet the king of Burma. Robert had the necessary entry permissions with him and he had managed to get both an identity certificate as well as a certificate of friendship from Mingimaha Tilowa, the administrator of Assam. It was going to be a special day for Robert. He looked forward to his meeting with Bisa Gaam. Robert would not have come on this journey had he not met Maniram, the son of an officer of the Ahom king, Purandar Singha, at Goalpara. It was Maniram who had told him about the beverage that the Singphos drank. He was extremely excited when he heard that it tasted just like tea. Later, during his meeting with a Singpho chieftain in the Ahom capital, Robert had tried to find out about this beverage and the chief had consented to giving him a few saplings. But the matter did not advance further. That was why he had come to the Singpho kingdom to meet Bisa Gaam personally.

The beverage that the Singpho people drank could be tea – there was every possibility of that. And if it was indeed tea, the economy of the entire world could change. The Singpho people were friendly with the Burmese, and so was Robert. It would be easy for him to establish a cordial relationship with the former.

Hearing a loud commotion, Robert looked up in alarm. Boatloads of Burmese soldiers, crowded into a number of long vessels, were coming downstream at great speed. In an instant, Robert picked up a gun and stood up, alert. The leader of the boat in front of Robert held up a banner, given to him by Mingimaha Tilowa, proclaiming their friendship. The sight of the banner was enough to soften the stern looks of the Burmese soldiers and soon, the long row of boats passed them by with the soldiers waving merrily. Robert reciprocated and, lowering the gun, he sat down. The turbulence in the water receded, but Robert’s mind did not follow suit. They were now almost at their destination. Bisa Gaam’s residence could not be very far. He wondered if what Maniram had said about the Singpho people was true. Did they really drink tea? He had not heard this from anyone else. People thought that China was the only tea-growing country in the world. But surely a person like Maniram, well-read and well-travelled as he was, would be aware of the food habits of his neighbours. Should this piece of information prove correct, the harassment of European traders by the Chinese would soon be a thing of the past.

Leaving Burhi Dihing behind, the boats now turned right, onto the Tirap. It was on the banks of this river that Bisa Gaam lived. The territory was divided into many parts and each part was ruled by a Gaam or chieftain. They were all headed by Bisa Gaam, who was their chief adviser.