Kinthup

His face is hairless save for one or two straggling bristles on his upper lip ... His deep-chested voice I have often heard calling clearly from a hill-top some miles away.In the 1870s, the destination of the Tsangpo River (sometimes spelled "Sanpo") was unknown.

To solve this mystery, Henry John Harman of the Great Trigonometrical Survey sent a pundit explorer, Nem Singh (known as "G. M. N.") to follow the Tsangpo and determine its ultimate destination.

[1] In 1880 Kinthup was sent back with the task of testing the Brahmaputra theory by releasing 500 specially marked logs into the river at a prearranged time at which Captain Harman, posted men on the Dihang-Brahmaputra to watch for their arrival.

[1] Resuming his survey of the river, he followed the gorge southward until he was captured by servants of his former master and again sold into slavery to the head abbot of a monastery.

"[5] Captain Hugh Trenchard said, "his account has been confirmed in the most remarkable manner, and we are now able to establish Kinthup's claim to honorable record in the annals of the Survey of India, which he served with such zeal and devotion to duty.