Bailey Collection: Tsangpo Expedition and Abor Expedition. Photographer(s): Bailey,...

Blue half-leather bound album measuring 416 mm x 300 mm. The binding is in very poor condition, boards and album pages detached, spine ripped and disintegrating. The cloth has at some time been attacked by mould and the outer condition of the album is probably largely due to exposure to damp. The condition of the album pages themselves is reasonable, and most of the prints are in fair condition. Prints are mounted either two or three to a page, with captions written in pencil at the side of the prints. In numbering the prints Bailey has used two sequences, the first for what are now prints 1-101, then starting a fresh sequence for the Abor material which continues into the following album: this division by subject matter, which creates duplicate numbering in a single album, is potentially confusing, and for the purposes of this catalogue this and following albums have been renumbered so that each volume contains a single numerical sequence. The prints in this album can be broken down as follows:. Prints 1-101 Bailey's numbering: 1-151 (some numbers missing).Tsangpo Expedition, 1911. Enlarged copies of selected prints from Mss Eur F157/478. Prints 102-164 Bailey's numbering: 1-63. 'Abors and Mishmis, 1911-12.' Prints 102-107 show scenes at Saikwa and Sadiya, with a general marginal note reading 'Before reaching Kobo.' Prints 108-152 shows scenes at the expediton's main camp at Kobo on the Brahmaputra west of Sadiya. Prints 153-164 show scenes at Sadiya and Saikwa. As noted above, prints 1-101 are enlarged copies of material from Mss Eur F157/478. For a note on Bailey's unsuccessful expedition to prove that the Tsango river of Tibet was one of the headwaters of the Brahmaputra, see the introduction to that item. On his return to India (where he was the subject of censure for overstaying his leave during the expedition) he settled down to writing his report of the expedition, but by October he had manged to persuade the authorities to send him back to Assam, attached to the forces mounting the Abor Expedition, with instructions to undertake a survey of the Abor, Digaru and Chulikatta Mishmi country. This punitive expediton under the command of General Sir Hamilton Bower was undertaken to punish the Abors for the recent murder of Noel Williamson, Political Officer at Sadiya and other members of his party who had entered the Abor country. But on Bailey's arrival at Kobo there appeared to be little for him to do (which probably explains the comprehensive photographic documentation of the camp in this album), and to get rid of him Bowers sent him into the Chulikatta Mishmi country to find out if the Mishmis also were on the verge of uprising. This mission was quickly accomplished (the Mishmis had no intention of fighting, being delighted with the prospect of their enemies the Abors being punished by the British) and Bailey was then sent back to Simla without being permitted to carry out the detailed survey which had been the main purpose of his secondment. The short journey did, however, result in an extremely interesting series of photographs of the camp at Kobo, of the Naga porters and scouts used by the British and of Mishmi types encountered. This series continues in the following album (Mss Eur F157/480).

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