1S75.] J.Butler — Rough Notes on the Angami JSTdgds. 323 



and dao, but of late years they have managed to become the proud 

 possessors of a considerable quantity of fire-arms, to obtain which is 

 just now one of the keenest desires they have ; in fact, an Angami will 

 give almost anything he has for a gun, and if he cannot get it by fair 

 means, will run almost any risk to get it by foul. In several cases of 

 gun thefts, some of which have been accompanied by murder, they have 

 certainly proved themselves wonderfully bold and dexterous. The spear 

 is generally a very handsome one, and at close quarters, or when thrown 

 from an ambuscade, is a formidable weapon, well calculated to inflict a 

 most dangerous wound. At anything over thirty yards, however, it is but 

 of little use, and is not very difficult to dodge even at two-thirds of 

 that distance. The spear-head is of iron, varying from 18 inches to 2 feet 

 in length, and from 2 to 3 inches in breadth. Its shaft is generally 

 from 4 to 5 feet in length, and is usually very picturesquely ornament- 

 ed with scarlet goat's hair, here and there intermingled with a peculiar 

 pattern of black and white hair ; sometimes, though rarely, the whole 

 shaft is beautifully worked over with scarlet and yellow cane, and it is 

 always tipped at the bottom with an iron spike of from three inches to over 

 a foot in length, used for sticking it into the ground. A Naga would 

 never dream of leaving his spear against a wall. It must be always kept 

 in a perpendicular position, either by being stuck upright into the ground 

 or by being suspended against one of the walls of the house, so as to keep 

 it perfectly straight. On the war-path every Angami carries two of these 

 spears. The dao is a broad-headed kind of hand-bill, with a heavy blade 

 about 18 inches in length and only edged on one side. This dao is in- 

 variably worn at the back of the waist in a rough sort of half scabbard 

 made of wood. The only article of defence they possess is a large shield 

 from 5 to 6 feet high, 2 feet broad at the top and tapering down to about 

 a foot in breadth at the bottom. This shield is made of bamboo -matting, 

 and is covered with either the skin of some wild animal (elephant, tiger, 

 leopard, and bear being among the most common), or a piece of cloth, 

 generally scarlet. In the latter case, or even without the cloth, it is de- 

 corated with pieces of skin cut so as to represent human heads, and tufts 

 of scarlet goat's hair, whilst on the inside is attached a board, so as to 

 make it spear-proof. From each corner of the upper end of the shield 

 spring two cane horns from 2\ to 3 feet in length, decorated with the long- 

 flowing tresses of human hair taken in war — probably the locks of some 

 unfortunate woman butchered at the water hole — intermingled with goat's 

 hair dyed scarlet ; and from the centre rises a plume about 3 feet long of 

 scarlet goat's hair, tipped at the top for about 4 inches in depth with white 

 goat's hair, and along the top edge runs a fringe of white, downy feathers. 

 Along the inner edge, a string of lappets, made of feathers of various 



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