June 2nd, 1882 VILLA PAGANINI Via Delle Isole , 8 00198 Roma Dear Paolo, It has been almost been a year of I having arrived in this corner of the world. I am aware that I was expected to write to you sooner, but as my commitments would have it, it is only now that I can gather my thoughts to reflect them to you. Having met Mr. Robert Piercy in England last summer with an intention to arrive in the Indian subcontinent, our contingent sailed on the Clan Buchanan, which ran aground off the coast of Morocco, where we remained two days. Along with Senior Paganini, I visited Gibraltar whilst the ship was being refloated, and it was a pleasant, sunny visit. After sailing from the coast of Morocco, we arrived in Calcutta, seven weeks after leaving Liverpool. It was a curious site on arrival, with gentlemen waiting to receive us, and ponies waiting to carry our luggage over the last stage of our journey. It took us over two weeks by the streamer to arrive in Dibrugarh, and another week to arrive at the mouth of the Dehing River. The Assam Valley is extremely picturesque. In the east, shut in by the mountains on three sides, is unfolded a pleasing panorama. Behind the foothills to the north the snow-covered peaks of the Himalayas glisten pure white, suffused by a delicate pink at sunset, in charming contrast to the blue of the Patkoi Hills on the other side of the valley. Our work sites are surrounded by forest or jungle, mostly the latter but often both together, and a jungle generally about as penetrable as a brick wall. The solitude of the desert may be as great, but not as desolate as here; and the absence of all signs of life, when a view of any extent of the country can be had, is sadly oppressive. The Nagas, native to this land, are now at work cutting the timber and clearing the jungle on the site of the settlement. A view of these coal seams or of this “Hill of Coal” as the Nagas call it, is a grand sight even to an amateur, forming, as they do, great walls of a beautiful glossy jet-black colour. The scenery from the summit of the Tikak Hill is imposing. Between the Dehing and the Hill, there is a vast virgin forest of true Indian type; the home of the wild elephant, rhinoceros, tiger and deer; mighty in the dimensions of its timber and festooned with the most beautiful tree ferns, orchids and creepers which would be the pride of a botanical garden in Europe; while behind Tikak the top of the Patkoi Range is seen, forming or close to the Burmese boundary. The Nagas are renowned for their powers of cutting down timber and clearing jungle. They appear to take kindly to the cutting of coal on the surface of the hill, but are at present afraid of tunnelling or mining. They are not accustomed to earthwork and it has yet to be seen whether they will undertake this. I have faced great difficulty in preventing the labourers from becoming demoralised. Amidst this dense jungle, we fear the possibility that some hitch in the commissariat arrangements might deprive us of the necessities of life. Goods traffic from Dibrugarh, only sixty miles away, might take as long as forty days by county boat. The peculiarly isolated nature of the work; the entire absence of all local labour and assistance; the necessity of creating a manufacturing centre and workshops, stocked with all needful mechanical appliances, and skilled labour, in a place hitherto considered as almost beyond the confines of civilisation, and of importing, absolutely everything (except timber for sleepers) necessary for the construction of the line and the opening out of the coal: these and numerous other obstacles and drawbacks, which it would be tedious to detail, might well have daunted the boldest. Our primary task is to plunge the trainlines into the heart of the primaeval forest. I could imagine that surely never from any other railway carriage windows in the world has such a scene been witnessed, as would greet our eyes upon the completion of this daunting task. South American lines have penetrated tropical forests before now, and have had ‘considerable jungle’ to tackle. But I question if even any of these lines could show such magnificent timber with such a matted and tangled undergrowth, dense cane brakes, inextricably confused, creepers and parasitical growths, as the virgin forest on the Makum branch exhibits. The desolate dreary look of these patches of humanity in the gloom of the primaeval forest, particularly on such a dark, drizzling day, could provide you a vivid idea of the life led by the working pioneers of this great enterprise. One could picture the cheerless return ‘home’ of these men after a hard day’s work, spent with toil, lacerated with thorns, their life-blood half drained by leeches, and often, notwithstanding the exertions of those concerned to keep the commissariat arrangements in working order, with poor fare to look forward to. All said, it has to be addressed that in facing such hardships, I find myself surrounded by men who are motivated to see through this enterprise to fruition. I would wish for the Company to take heed to my suggestions of bringing specialized, experienced men from Europe to undertake the mining operations. If an engineer, driver, platelayer or other artisan is wanted, a native agriculturalist must be taken and trained to the work. As a rule, they are quite willing to learn anything that you may wish to teach them. With regard to the training of men who come into the work site, it must be understood that they have no pit sense whatever on their arrival. The candidates are given time off from work and the instruction is given in Hindustani. I think it will be agreed that it is a great accomplishment when illiterate labourers have been trained to obtain their first-aid certificates under the St. John Ambulance scheme. I am sending you a photograph that was taken by Mr. Edward Wilson for his reports on the Company scheme. I envision a bridge to connect the banks of the Dehing, upon which our carriages will embark, very soon by God’s will. Love to Francesca and your mother. Roberto