1844.] Flora of the Naga Hills. 709 



rifera, Calamus hostilis, Goldfussia two species, Pladera, a most delicate 

 interesting species ; and in the village, on the very summit of the 

 sandstone rock, 2153 feet above the level of the sea, Beaumontia 

 grandiflora, and the common dwarf elder. All the Naga villages 

 are built on the very summit of the particular hills on which they are 

 situated, and this village of Namsang is situated on the highest point 

 of the Namsang Purbut ; it is thickly studded with houses and crowded 

 with inhabitants, having pigs and fowls in abundance. The men ap- 

 peared remarkably active and healthy, but the women and children, 

 (especially those who are necessarily more confined to the crowded 

 village) appear pale and sickly. 



A reference to Mr. Bedford's map of the route, will shew the situa- 

 tion of the villages visited, from our leaving Namsang on the 29th of 

 January to our quitting Sonareegong, and descending to the banks 

 of the Dyung on the 26th of February. 



In the villages and the inhabitants, I observed comparatively but 

 little difference, save that from Namsang to Samsa, the houses are all 

 large, high pitched, and more or less supported by bamboo frame- 

 work ; while from Mickelai to Nowgong, the sites of the villages not 

 being so rocky, the houses are all low pitched, and seldom supported 

 by bamboo frame-work. All the houses are roomy, strongly built, well, 

 and often very neatly, thatched. The granaries, which are generally 

 situated in a detached part of the village, are all supported by bamboo 

 frame- work. 



As the villages are all on the summit of the hills, where the naked 

 rocks frequently rise above the surface, there is very little spare 

 ground for gardens or cultivation of any kind in the villages ; but on 

 every little spot on which a few inches of soil is found, attempts are 

 made at gardening. In these we found onions, mustard, tobacco, 

 sunn, and a few stocks of sugar cane. I found the mangoe tree in 

 almost every village, and some immensely large trees, as large as are 

 generally found in Bengal ; besides these, a few plants of the guava, 

 peach, and plantain, with Tagetes patula, or the French marigold. 



The cultivation of rice, millet, kuchoo, (Arum) pumpkins, ginger, cap- 

 sicums, cotton and rom is carried on at a distance from the village, on 

 the slopes of the hills. It appears to be the practice of the Nagas 



