1S75.] J. Butler — Rough Notes on the Angdtml Nag as. 309 



a healthy, bracing climate, subject to neither extreme heat, nor cold. This 

 noble tract of country is blessed with a most fertile soil, well cultivated, 

 drained and manured, and the hill sides are often covered, I might almost 

 say for miles, with a succession of fine terraces of rich rice ; and the hill tops 

 are dotted over, as far as the eye can reach, with numerous large villages, 

 whose comparatively enormous population might even claim for them the 

 right of being called towns. Thus Kohima for instance contains no less 

 than 865 houses, or say a population of over 4000 souls. 



The Angamis proper, or " Western Angamis", as they have also 

 been aptly termed, in order to distinguish them from the Eastern clans, to 

 whom they are closely allied, hold 46 villages, all lying to the west 

 of the Sijjo or Doiang Eiver. Towards the north they extend up to the 

 range of hills on which the Nidzukhru mountain forms a prominent land- 

 mark, and on the west to the low range of hills on which Samaguting, 

 Sitekema, and Nidzuma stand, whilst towards the south they are cut off 

 from Manipur by the lofty Barrail, whose forest-clad heights make a 

 splendid background to the lovely panorama in front. The 46 villages above- 

 mentioned, contain a total of 6,367 houses, and cover a tract of about 30 

 miles in length, by about 20 in breadth, and are thus spread over an area 

 of about 600 square miles. Now if we allow an average of 5 souls to 

 each house, we here obtain a population of 31,835 souls, or roughly, in 

 round numbers, say about 30,000 souls — figures which I believe a regular 

 census would prove to be very near the mark indeed. And from these 

 figures we may assume that we have here got a population of at least 50 

 to the square mile, which for a hill country, I need hardly add, is a very 

 large average. This can be easily seen by a reference to the last Census 

 Report of Bengal (L872), in which we find that even the Khasia Hills have 

 only 23 souls to the square mile, the Chittagong Hill Tracts only 10, 

 whilst Hill Tiparah comes last of all with only 9. 



I may here explain that the total area of all " JSJaga, Land " theoretically 

 under the political control of our Government is about 8,500 square miles, 

 and I have roughly estimated the population in that area to be at least 

 300,000 souls. 



It has been generally believed that the term " Naga " is derived from 

 the Bengali word " nangta", or the Hindustani word " nanga", meaning 

 "naked", and the specific name " An garni" has also been credited with 

 the same source. Another theory suggests the Kachari word " Naga", 

 a " young man" and hence a" warrior ", whilst a third theory would derive 

 it from " nag" a snake. However, be this as it may, the term is quite 

 foreign to the people themselves : they have no generic term applicable to 

 the whole race, but use specific names for each particular group of vil- 

 lages ; thus the men of Mezoma, Khonoma, Kohima, Jotsoma, and their 



