202 Major Macgregor — Notes on the Akas. [Dec, 



by one of the spectators during the performance. At the end of the 

 entertainment the old women dance to the music of a fiddle. The Aka 

 fiddle is a curious kind of instrument, hairs from a mithun's tail serve 

 as strings for the bow and fiddle, and a piece of skin, well stretched, 

 covers the bamboo cup which is used for the bowl ; the rosin with which 

 the bow is occasionally rubbed is attached in the most convenient man- 

 ner to the side of the bowl. I must say that the sound produced is of 

 the mildest description, but I am told that the Aka will listen to it 

 for hours with the greatest pleasure. During the dances every one, 

 down to the smallest child, drinks the rice wine, which is luckily not of 

 an intoxicating nature. 



There is very little crime among the Akas ; thefts are very rare, 

 there being hardly anything to steal which is not common property. 

 Murders are also of very rare occurrence. Should a man kill another, 

 a " punchayet " is held in the village, and the punishment awarded is 

 generally that the murderer should pay a fine in mithun to the relations 

 of the deceased, and that he (the murderer) should be banished from 

 the village. I was informed that on one occasion a Miji had killed a 

 Kapachor, so three men of the Kapachors went to the Miji village where 

 the murderer dwelt, took him outside the village, and put him to death 

 with their swords, the other inhabitants of the Miji village approving, 

 or at any rate not preventing, the deed. 



The Akas are very hospitable, and guests are treated to the best of 

 everything, even children (who are very obedient) are taught to be 

 hospitable. The houses are substantial erections, the sides of which 

 are planked ; they vary in size. Laby's house, an average one, was 63 

 feet long by 15 feet wide, the height the machan (i. e., floor) is from 

 the ground, depends on the slope of the ground — it may be 2 feet at one 

 end and 6 feet at the other. One of the houses in Mehdi's village 

 measured 140 feet in length and 22 feet in width. In the large houses 

 there are partitions and swing doors ; the fireplaces are usually in the 

 middle of the dormitory, and round this all the members of the family, 

 both young and old, sleep. The roofs are formed at a good angle for 

 running the rain off, by placing mats over the bamboo frame-work and 

 covering them with cane leaves ; the canes reach to the machan. There 

 is very little attempt in decorating the front of the house ; a few horns 

 of the mithun, &c, are sometimes put up. Pigs and poultry live under 

 the floor. Sanitary ideas do not exist in the Aka mind. 



The Akas wear a kind of toga made of rough Assamese silk or of 

 Bhutia blanket cloth. Leggings are also worn ; these are tied at the 

 knee and folded round the leg, giving them the appearance of trousers. 

 The arms are bare, and they do not wear shoes. Their head-covering 



