1883.] S. E. Peal— -ZVb/^5 of a trip up the Billing. 17 



ried have to sleep away from the parents' house, at times only the boys and 

 young men, at others the young women and girls also, but in this case they 

 have different houses, though all are called by the Asamese " morangs.'* 

 Among the Bordurias, Mutons, Banparas, Jobokas, Sanglois, and the tribes 

 near, they are called Pa, (pah) ; west of the Diku river I hear these morangs 

 are called " Ari zu," and there are different tribal names for them among 

 the Singphus, Mishmis, Miris, and others, on the north or river bank of 

 the Brahmaputra ; attached to them are I hear jBxed rules or laws, which it 

 would be most interesting to collect and collate, and which may doubtless 

 yield a clue to their origin. Viewing the " morang" as a phase of social 

 evolution, it is probable that we have here before us one phase or form of 

 the transition from original sexual liberty, to our institution of marriage 

 and modern ideas of chastity. 



The idea that sexual fidelity begins with marriage is here obvious, and 

 almost implies that the institution began by capture, or purchase, giving a 

 pair the right to live separate, as has been urged by many. A curious 

 feature of the case confirmatory of this, is, that sexual infidelity by the 

 female after marriage seems rare, much more so than among civilized com- 

 munities. At this Jagon village there was only one morang and that for 

 girls, the allusions to it I heard when we were returning, were unmistake- 

 able. 



After starting next day I stalked a pair of the large brown Brahmini 

 duck, a wary bird on these open sand flats, and only to be got by wire 

 cartridge or when flying over. It then occurred to^me, to note the relative 

 distances at which game of all sorts takes alarm, a great deal depends on 

 the presence or absence of cover. As a rule wild buffalo, or Gaur called 

 here Mithon, moves at 300 to 400 yards, pig and deer in the open 200 to 

 800, but in forest these often stand at 100 or even less. Tiger and leopard, 

 if in the open, make off at from 100 to 200, though I have known the 

 former on a path in front of a man, to walk aside some 20 yards to let him 

 pass, and quietly walk on after he had done so ; most monkeys scamper off 

 at 50 yards, and do not mind being seen. The Hulok or ape on the con- 

 ary though arboreal, can seldom be seen, at least within 50 to 100 yards. 

 Otter become fussy and try to frighten one at 80 yards, but if quiet they 

 will often come quite close. Turtle generally drop off the snags they rest 

 on, into the water, when I get to within 30 or 40 yards. Among birds 

 there is a marked difference between the vultures as a group and most 

 others of equal size, unless they are habitually protected, like the wild geese 

 on the Sibsagar tank, storks &c. Insects seldom rise before three or four 

 yards, while those that mimic inanimate objects can be actually pinned often 

 ere they attempt to move. Probably our ancestors soon became expert missal 

 throwers, and this differentiated them from the nearest allies. But to re- 

 3 



