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 AUGUST 2, 1872.]

255

ASIATIC SOCIETIES.

rounded capitals, but much worn by the action of the elements, and covered with grey lichen. To the

plete, that their resources lie wholly within their

west of this was a rude square building composed

limited area.

of the same stones, roughly put together without mortar. This had evidently been constructed from the stones of the older structure, as there were pieces of mouldings, capitals of pillars and sculp tured stones, some upside down, and all evidently out of place. Inside, smeared with vermilion and turtneric, were numerous portions of statues, heads, arms, a multilated trunk or two, few of which bore any resemblance to the traditional figures of Hindu mythology. “The images unfortunately are so smeared with vermilion and oil, that it is difficult to make out all the details. There seems to be a serpent's hood over the head of one, but it is too much worn to admit of any certainty.” Again at Dharmsala on the Brahmani, 31 miles north of Katak. “One mile to the west of the road, at the foot of a little hill, on a small promontory jutting out into the river, stands a temple of Siva, under the name of Gokarnesſwara Mahādeva, or as the peasants call it, Gok'ns'r Mahadeb. This is one of the usual Siva temples of the melon or ninepin shape, so common in Orissa. It faces the east, and in front of it is a square platform of laterite stones, surrounded by pillars exactly similar in design to the Kopari ones; they are twelve in number, three at each corner of the platform. “The Mahadeb temple has been built of stones taken from some part of this ancient structure, thongh the fact is concealed by its being entirely covered with a smooth coating of plaster. The Hindu statues of late date surrounding this temple are of remarkable beauty and fineness. The prin cipal figure is called by the people Saraswati, and represents a smiling woman with four arms hold ing a conch and lotus, with many female attendants with laughing faces grouped round the principal which is not in relief, but has the stone cut away at the back of the figure. “This image was found in the river some years ago, and the others were found in the jungle close by, or as the attendant Brahman states, suddenly appeared out of the rock, and ordered themselves to be worshipped ''' From “ Notes on a Visit to the Tribes inhabiting the Hills south of Sibsagar, Asám, by S. E. Peal, Esq., we make the following extracts — “Our ignorance of these various tribes, their -

many languages, customs, and internal arrange ments, seems to be only equalled by their complete

ignorance of us, our power and resources. The principal of clanship is here carried to the extreme ; not only are there numerous well marked tribes inhabiting considerable tracts, as the Butias, the Abors, Singphis, Nāgās, but these again are cut up into small, and usually isolated, communities, who, among the Nāgās at least, are constantly at war

with each other.

Their isolation is often so coma

“There seems good reason to suppose that the pre sent state of things has existed for a considerable period. Not only are the languages spoken by contiguous tribes often mutually unintelligible, but

the still better evidence of strongly marked physical variation holds good. And to these inferences of a long period must be added that tangible fact, that at their villages, or ‘changs,’ and not elsewhere in

the hills, there are numerous Jack trees, many of them very large, and not less than 400 years old, I should say, as the Jack is a slow growing wood.” “We now saw for the first time how they weed the ‘dhán,' commencing at the bottom of the slopes and working upwards, in parties of ten to twenty. The dhán stalks seem far apart, and they use a bam boo loop to scrape up the earth, removing the weeds with the left hand and throwing them in little heaps. Each house or family seems to have its dhán marked out by sticks, stones, or weed heaps, and neighbours combine to work in batches. The rate at which they got over the ground was astonishing, the work being well done. The dhān was not in ear, and this was their second weeding. I was told, it was enough for this year. “The labour they are put to for a scanty crop is almost incredible. They seldom cultivate the same piece of land for more than two years in succession, as grass comes up rapidly the second year, and they have no way of eradicating it, the only implement used in cultivation being the dhao. After the se cond year, they let the land go into jangal, and make fresh clearances for their dhán.

The hills

are thus in all stages of jangal and forest, now all grass, as Borata, Ulú, and Hamorá ; or ground deserted for three years, all in small tree jangal (for the trees kill the grass in that time); on other patches again larger trees may be seen, five and six years old, or eight and ten, and no grass at all. In about ten years all the available rice-growing land has had a turn, and they can clear the young forest again. They thus require far more land than the ryots in the plains, especially if the smallness of the crop yielded is taken into account.” A little beyond Longhong “we passed some small raised changs, on which we saw bodies tied up in Tocoopalm leaves, and roofed in. We heard it was the way in which they disposed of their dead.”

“We were taken to the highest point in the village from whence we had a fine view of the surrounding changs. To the east, nearest to Longhong and the plains, lay the Hūrū Mūtons' chang on its peak, which is wooded to the top. With the binoculars the houses could be clearly seen in detail, they seemed the same as in Longhong. The Hūrū Mū tons are the deadly enemies of the Banpara tribe, though so close. Next to the south lie the Kālūn