A History of Assam c12.150

c12.150

"Gold is washed from the sand of the Brahmaputra. Ten to twelve thousand Assamese are engaged in this employment, and they pay to the Raja's government one *tola* of gold per head per year. But this gold is of a low-standard of purity; a *tola* of it fetches only eight or nine rupees. It is said that gold can be procured from the sand at all places on the bank of the Brahmaputra; but the only people who know how to gather it are those Assamese. The currency of this kingdom consists of cowries and rupees and gold coins stamped with the stamp of the Raja. Copper coins are not current. The musk deer and the elephant are found in the hills inhabited by the Miri and Mishmi tribes, which lie in the east of Assam on the Uttarkol side at a distance of eleven days' journey from Garhgāon. Silver, copper and tin are also obtained in the hills of the same tribes...... The aloe wood which grows in the hills of Nāmrup, Sadiya and Lakhugarh, is heavy, coloured and scented.