332 Journal of a visit to [May, 



all passed the prime of life, there is but little doubt that he will soon 

 become by far the most influential chief of his tribe. Both tribes 

 appear to intermarry. The Mishmees are a small, active, hardy race, 

 with the Tartar cast of features ; they are excessively dirty, and have 

 not the reputation of being honest, although, so far as I know, they are 

 belied in this respect. Like other hill people, they are famous for the 

 muscular development of their legs : — in this last point the women 

 have generally the inferiority. They have no written language ; — 

 their clothing is inferior ; it is, however, made of cotton, and is of 

 their own manufacture ; — that of the men consists of a mere jacket 

 and an apology for a dhoti, — that of the women is more copious, and 

 at any rate quite decent : they are very fond of ornaments, especially 

 beads, the quantities of which they wear is very often quite astonishing. 

 They appear to me certainly superior to the A'bors, of whom, however, 

 I have seen but few. Both sexes drink liquor, but they did not seem 

 to me to be so addicted to it as is generally the case with hill tribes : — 

 their usual drink is a fermented liquor made from rice called month ; 

 this, however, is far inferior to that of the Singphos, which is really 

 a pleasant drink. 



Religion. Of their religion I could get no satisfactory information : — 

 every thing is ascribed to supernatural agency. Their invocations to 

 their deity are frequent, and seem generally to be made with the view 

 of filling their own stomachs with animal food. They live in a very 

 promiscuous manner, one hundred being occasionally accommodated in 

 a single house. Their laws appear to be simple, — all grave crimes 

 being judged by an assembly of Gams, who are on such occasions 

 summoned from considerable distances. All crimes, including murder, 

 are punished by fines ; but if the amount is not forthcoming, the 

 offender is cut up by the company assembled. But the crime of 

 adultery, provided it be committed against the consent of the husband, 

 is punished by death ; and this severity may perhaps be necessary if 

 we take into account the way in which they live. 



The men always go armed with knives, Lama swords, or Singpho 

 dhaos and lances ; and most of them carry cross-bows — the arrows for 

 these are short, made of bamboo, and on all serious occasions are 

 invariably poisoned with bee. When on fighting expeditions, they use 

 shields, made of leather, which are covered towards the centre with 

 the quills of the porcupine. Their lances are made use only for 

 thrusting : the shafts are made either from the wood of the lawn 

 (Caryota ureas) or that of another species of palma juce — they are 

 tipped with an iron spike, and are of great use in the ascent of hills. 



