KHASI HILLS. 103 



portion of their territory is said to be overrun by dense and almost im- 

 penetrable jungle. They hold little intercourse with adjoining tribes, 

 are reported to be very treacherous, and, excepting along the outskirts 

 of the ridge, are but little known (a). The Eastern boundary of the 

 Garo territory is but ill defined, but may rudely be said to correspond 

 to the 91st degree of Eastern longitude. 



Adjoining the Garos, on the East, is the territory of the Khasis 



(Kasiyas, Khasias, or Cossias). It stretches East 



and West for about one degree of longitude, and, 



in the North and South direction, from the plains of Sylhet to those of 



Assam. 



Still further East, and joining the Khasi territory, are the Jynteah 

 hills, which have passed into the hands of the 



Jynteah hills. 



British Government in India, having been for- 

 feited by the Jynteah Rajah in 1835, 



To the East of the Jynteah hills, are the tribes of Cachar, the Nagas, 

 &c., which inhabit the country from the Jynteah 

 boundary Eastwards to Munnipoor. Their geo- 

 graphical limits are very little known. 



My own observations were confined to the Khasi territory, and 

 indeed only to a portion of it, with a rapid examination of parts of the 

 Jynteah hills. 



In this portion of the range, the hills rise very suddenly and abruptly 



Character of escarp- ^om the plains. At a short distance from their 

 menton ou . base, and stretching along nearly parallel to the 



great range, though with interruptions, is a broken series of small round- 

 ed hillocks, often beautifully wooded. These rise from 1 to 200 feet 

 above the general level of the plains, and are composed of layers of sand, 



(a) Captain C. S. Reynolds, in an interesting account of a visit to the Garo hills in 1848, 

 mentions nothing but granite, and says he was unsuccessful in finding coal, limestone, or 

 iron. He had, however, no opportunity of making an extensive examination. — (Journal 

 of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Vol. XVIII. page ib.) 



