HOW I KILLED THE TIGER. 45 



over the Himalaya, and its South-Eastern con- 

 tinuation to the Bengal Bay ; while from the 

 time of passage there are ages upon ages before 

 the dawn of legend and of chronicle. Mr. 

 Hodgson inclines to the opinion that the 

 aborigines of the " Sub Himalayas," as far east 

 as the Dhansiri of Assam, belong to the Thibetan 

 stock, and east of that river to the Chinese 

 stock except the Garos and other tribes 

 occupying that portion of the hills lying between 

 Assam and Sylhet ; and that the aborigines 

 of the " tarai " and " forest " skirting the entire 

 Sub Himalayas, inclusive of the greater part of 

 the marginal circuit of the Assam Valley, belong, 

 like those last mentioned, to the Tamulian stock 

 of aborigines of the plains of India generally. 

 But what is this Tamulian stock ? What the 

 Thibetan ? And what the Chinese ? And to 

 which of the three grand and well-known branches 

 of the Scythic tree (Tungus, Mongol, Turk) do 

 the Tamulians, the Thibetans, and the Chinese 

 belong? Of the aborigines of Central India, of 

 seven of whos2 languages, the three first came 

 from Chyebassa, where they were prepared by 

 Colonel Ouseley's Assistant, Captain Houghton ; 

 the fourth and fifth direct from Colonel Ouseley 

 himself at Chota Nagpur; the sixth from Bhau- 

 galpur, prepared by the Rev. Mr. Hurder, and 



