316 J. Butler — Rough Notes on the Angdmi Nagas. [Xo. 4, 



may be anticipated or not. Among the most common forms of consulting 

 the oracle, one is that of cutting slices off a piece of stick and watching 

 which side of these hits turn uppermost as they fall to the ground ; ano- 

 ther is, to lay hold of a fowl hy the neck and throttle it, and if it dies 

 with its right leg slightly crossed over its left, it is pronounced favourable 

 to the accomplishment of the undertaking whatever it may happen to be. 

 I have known of a large war-party turning back immediately, because a 

 deer crossed their path, — a most unlucky omen. A tiger calling out in the 

 jungles in front is a very lucky sign, whilst if heard in rear, it is just the 

 contrary. In like manner there are several birds whose song if issuing from 

 the left hand side is lucky, but if from the right the reverse. 



They have several very curious ways of taking an oath. One of 

 the commonest, as it is one of the most sacred, is for the two parties to 

 lay hold of a dog or fowl, one by its head, the other by its tail, or feet, 

 whilst the poor beast or bird is severed in two with one stroke of a dao, 

 emblematic of the perjurer's fate. Another is to lay hold of the barrel of 

 a gun, or spear-head, or tooth of a tiger and solemnly declare, " If I do 

 not faithfully perform this my promise, may I fall by this weapon" or 

 animal, as the case may be ; whilst a third, and one generally voluntarily 

 offered after defeat, is to snatch up a handful of grass and earth, and after 

 placing it on the head, to shove it into the mouth, chewing it and pre- 

 tending to eat it, one of the most disagreeable and literal renderings of 

 the metaphorical term " eating dirt" I have ever witnessed. A fourth is, 

 to stand in the centre of a circle of rope, or cane, and there repeat a certain 

 formula, to the effect that, if they break their vow, which they then repeat, 

 they pray the gods may cause them to rot away as the rope rots, &c. 



One among their many strange customs is that of " k&mie' ", cor- 

 rupted by the Asamese into " g^nna," a description of tabu singularly 

 similar to that in vogue among the savages inhabiting the Pacific Islands. 

 This tabu is declared upon every conceivable occasion, thus at the birth 

 of a child, or on the death of any individual, the house is tabued, generally 

 for the space of five days, and no one is allowed to go in or out except the 

 people of the house. Again, any accidental death, or fire in the village, 

 puts the whole village under the ban. In like manner before commencing 

 either to sow or to reap, an universal tabii has to be undergone, and 

 is accompanied by propitiatory offerings to their several deities, and no man 

 dare commence work before. If their crops have been suffering from the 

 attacks of wild animals, a " kennie" is the remedy, — in fact there is no end 

 to the reasons on which a " kennie" must or may be declared, and as it 

 consists of a general holiday when no work is done, this Angami sabbath 

 appears to be rather a popular institution. 



If a man has the misfortune to kill another by accident, he is com- 



