iv THE BIEDS OF MANIPUR, 



elongated level space, decreasing gently in altitude from north 

 to south, (but with an average elevation of about 2,000 feet above 

 sea level, ; watered by numerous streams and boasting of many 

 smaller broads and ponds, and one really large lake — the 

 Logtag. This central space is called the valley of Manipur, 

 but it is not a valley in the usual sense of the word ; it is really 

 a plain, some 60 miles long and varying from 10 to 30 miles 

 in breadth — a sedimentary plain, through which, every here and 

 there, crop up the tops of small hills, the bases of and valleys, 

 between which have all been covered in by the lacustrine 

 deposit which constitutes the plain. In fact it is the old bed 

 of a huge lake, which has somewhere southwards cut a way 

 of escape and disappeared, leaving a large hollow (the Logtag 

 lake) and many smaller ones, still filled with water, as mementos 

 of its now long-forgotten sojourn here. It must not be 

 supposed that this level is one unbroken plain from north to 

 south, or in any degree regular in shape. On the contrary, not 

 only does it vary very much in width, not only is it every 

 here and there invaded by the tops of what I may call sub- 

 merged hills that rise for two or three hundred feet above 

 its surface, but especially in its northern portions it is repeat- 

 edly broken into by transverse spurs from its lateral bounding 

 ranges, which run far into and partially divide it into a 

 series of plains. 



My explorations were very limited, and this description may 

 require modifications when the country is better known, but 

 I believe that it sufficiently accurately portrays the leading 

 features of the country. 



I do not propose to enter into the history of Manipur, of 

 which next to nothing is known, nor to trace the steps by 

 which it came " under British protection," though there is less 

 to blush for in this case than in that of most of our other posses- 

 sions in the East. Even of the anthropology I shall say as little 

 as possible, because my views are radically opposed to those of 

 others presumably far greater authorities who have treated of the 

 question. But certain facts I may mention. The hills surround- 

 ing the Manipur level are inhabited by some 20 different clans 

 of savages, each occupying its own ridge or group of ridges 

 and spurs — clans derived from the great races that inhabit the 

 hills abutting on those hills, which are under the jurisdiction 

 of the people living in the level, viz., the Lushaies and Kukis, 

 the Nagas, the Shans and other Burmese tribes. These people 

 are absolute savages, good-tempered, stalwart animals when 

 pleased, reckless of their own and other people's lives, cruel and 

 blood-thirsty to a degree, when angered and normally, when not 

 controlled by some superior intelligence, ceaselessly raiding 

 on each other and murdering men, women and children 



