124 INHABITANTS OP THE HILLS. 



hair being long, and their noses not remarkably 

 flat or sharp. The greater part of them are 

 known by the appellation of Buoyeahs and Bouc- 

 tas-) who, according to their tradition, were the ab- 

 origines of that country ; but, from appearances, 

 I should judge that they descended from an 

 intercourse between the hill people with woolly 

 hair and flat noses, (who, I imagine, were the 

 aborigines of that country) and the Bengalees. 



These are Hindoos, and probably their casts go 

 by other names in the Shaster or Barren Sunker. 

 They have a great veneration for Brahmins, but 

 eat of almost every kind of animal food, and few 

 of them object to drink spirituous liquors. They 

 have always been accustomed to decide their 

 disputes by punchite, which is an assemblage of 

 a number of their own cast, to whom all injuries 

 as well as quarrels are referred for decision. They 

 have a thorough belief in witchcraft. A very 

 curious circumstance happened while I was at 

 CMttrah, during Earl Comwallis's Government. 



A man accused a woman of witchcraft, on 

 which a punchite* assembled, and condemned 



* This word I think should be spelled paunchite, and is 



