1877.] Cust — N on- Aryan Languages of India. 15 



Proceeding westward we come to the Garo tribe : their language has 

 been thoroughly studied, and translations made into it by the American 

 missionaries for educational purposes. We have a grammar by Robinson 

 and T. J. Keith, and a dictionary by Keith, as well as a vocabulary by Ram 

 Nath : Keith considers that the language has Aryan affinities, while 

 Robinson compares it to Tibetan, and a connexion of the Graro with the 

 Kachari on the other side of the valley is asserted, and is probable. They 

 are Pagans, and surrounded on three sides by Hindu-settled districts ; yet 

 until very lately nothing was known of them. 



Between them and the Asam valley is the tribe of Mikir, with a 

 population of twenty-five thousand -, a grammar of their language has been 

 prepared by Robinson. They are a peaceable and settled people, though 

 Pagans. 



.ISuch are the tribes surrounding the valley of Asam, and the exact 

 position which each tribe bears to the Government of British India is not 

 easily defined. Some are entirely subjects, and are good subjects : some are 

 entirely independent, and most uncomfortable neighbours, but they are 

 included in our political system as against the outer world : some pay 

 revenue, some receive black-mail, some are Pagan savages, some civilized 

 religionists of one of the known types. 



We now return to the Naga Hills, and follow the mountain range 

 which separates Burmah from British India. Just outside the boundary, 

 but under treaty, is the kingdom of Munipuri. We have vocabularies of 

 the Munipuri language by Mr. Hodgson and the Rev. Mr. Brown, and 

 an English, Bengali and Munipuri dictionary. There is also a Munipuri 

 grammar in the Journal of the Bengal Asiatic Society. The New Testa- 

 ment has been translated into Munipuri. They are a civilized people, and 

 Hindus. 



Proceeding southward we find in unsurveyed and impenetrable wilds, 

 extending three hundred miles, the Kukis, one clan of which is well known 

 from the late campaign, as the Lushais, and the more southern clan as 

 Howlong and Sylu. Of their languages we have vocabularies by Captain 

 Lewin and Major M'Culloch. In 1874, Captain Lewin published a valuable 

 treatise : he explains that the people call themselves ' Dzos', that they have 

 twelve tribes and dialects, but that the Lushai is the clan-language of all : 

 that they never had a written character : that the main features of the 

 language are agglutinative, as the root remains unchanged, suffixes being 

 added, and the governed word precedes in the sentence the governing word. 

 They are far from savages, though Pagan ; they are civilized in the Asiatic 

 sense, and exercise certain arts. 



On reaching the hill districts of Chittagong we arrive very near the 

 Bay of Bengal. These mountains are occupied by three classes. 1, The 



