between the Southern Part of Bengal and Ava. 209 



his name or his title, I did not learn. The tribe then occu- 

 pied six villages or townships, one under the immediate autho- 

 rity of the chief, and five under an equal number of officers 

 called Ruasahs. All these are situated in the upper part of 

 the river passing Ramoo, which the Bengalese call Bak-kally, 

 and the Joomeas name Pangwa-khiaun. The chief whom I 

 saw was a poor man with a few trifling golden ornaments, and 

 had two ill-looking Bengalese attendants, who took every op- 

 portunity of restraining their master's inclination to satisfy my 

 curiosity ; but, so far as I could learn, the manners of this 

 tribe do not differ from those of the other Joomeas, only they 

 are poorer, although Umpry Palong sold a considerable quan- 

 tity of cotton to the Bengalese. He pays some tribute to the 

 Company, but I do not know the amount. 



There can, as I have said, be little doubt that the Joomeas 

 came at no remote period from Arakan ; but they have sub- 

 ject to them the villages of some more rude tribes, who, although 

 tributary, retain their own chiefs, customs, and languages; and, 

 although they submit in some instances to have their disputes 

 settled by the authority of the Joomea chiefs, still in ordinary 

 causes they abide by the decisions of their own chieftains, and 

 live in distinct villages, although these are intermixed with the 

 villages occupied by Joomeas. The Joomeas, I know, hold 

 several of these tribes in a state of slavery, and these slaves 

 dwell in the villages of their masters ; but I saw no instance of 

 a Joomea being in slavery to any person of these rude tribes, 

 although the Joomeas are often reduced to slavery with each 

 other. The usual manner, indeed, in which slaves are pro- 

 cured, is by advancing money in loan, and when the debtor is 

 unable to repay, he becomes a slave to the creditor. The 

 Joomeas, being farther advanced in society, have more cun- 

 ning than the rude tribes, and are therefore generally the cre- 

 ditors. I did see a few slaves who were said to be captives 

 in war, but such, I believe, are very rare among the Joomeas. 

 It is alleged that the Bonzhu have carried off many captives, 

 both Joomeas and Bengalese, and either retain them as slaves, 

 or have sold them to Ava, where, indeed, I saw several such. 



The only rude people settled among the southern tribe of 



VOL. III. NO. II. OCTOBER 1825. O 



