io THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Among the Indian hills there are many tribes belonging to differ- 

 ent races but alike in their partially nomadic habits. Mostly agricult- 

 ural, their common practice is to cultivate a patch of ground while it 

 yields average crops, and when it is exhausted to go elsewhere and 

 repeat the process. They have fled before invading races, and have 

 here and there found localities in which they are able to carry on their 

 peaceful occupations unmolested : the absence of molestation being, 

 in some cases, due to their ability to live in a malarious atmosphere, 

 which is fatal to the Aryan races. Already, under other heads, I have 

 referred to the Bodo and to the Dhimals as wholly unmilitary, as 

 having but nominal head-men, as being without slaves or social grades, 

 and as aiding one another in their heavier undertakings ; to the Todas, 

 who, leading tranquil lives, are " without any of those bonds of union 

 which man in general is induced to form from a sense of danger," and 

 who settle their disputes by arbitration or by a council of five ; to the 

 Mishmies as being unwarlike, as having but nominal chiefs, and as 

 administering justice by an assembly ; and I have joined with these 

 the case of a people remote in locality and race, the ancient Pueblos 

 of North America, who, sheltering in their walled villages and fight- 

 ing only when invaded, similarly joined with their habitual industrial 

 life a free form of government : " The governor and his council are 

 [were] annually elected by the people." Here I may add sundry kin- 

 dred examples. As described in the Indian Government Report for 

 1869-70, "the 'white Karens' are of a mild and peaceful disposition ; 

 . . . their chiefs are regarded as patriarchs, who have little more than 

 nominal authority" ; or, as said of them by Lieutenant McMahon, 

 " they possess neither laws nor dominant authority." Instance again 

 the " fascinating " Lepchas not industrious, but yet industrial in the 

 sense that their social relations are of the non-militant type. Though 

 I find nothing specific said about the system under which they live in 

 their temporary villages, yet the facts told us sufficiently imply its 

 uncoercive character. They have no castes ; " family and political 

 feuds are alike unheard of among them " ; " they are averse to sol- 

 diering " ; they prefer taking refuge in the jungle and living on wild 

 food " to enduring any injustice or harsh treatment " traits which 

 negative ordinary political control. Take next the " quiet, inoffen- 

 sive" Santals, who, though they fight if need be with infatuated bra- 

 very to resist aggression, are essentially unaggressive. These people 

 "are industrious cultivators, and enjoy their existence unfettered by 

 caste." Though, having become tributaries, there habitually exists in 

 each village a head appointed by the Indian Government to be respon- 

 sible for the tribute, etc., yet the nature of their indigenous govern- 

 ment remains sufficiently clear : while there is a patriarch who is hon- 

 ored, but who rarely interferes, " every village has its council-place 

 . . . where the committee assemble and discuss the affairs of the vil- 

 lage and its inhabitants. All petty disputes, both of a civil and crimi- 



