84 Remark* on the Sequel to the [Jan. 



the heart of the forests, where they cultivate patches of ground with the 

 hoe : they raise cotton, and kill elephants and deer for the sake of their 

 tusks and horns which they bring for sale to the weekly markets, held 

 on the borders of their forests. The Koch, who inhabit the forests in 

 the northern part of the Dacca district, are altogether a much stouter 

 and more hardy race, than the Hindoos or Mahomedans in the neigh- 

 bourhood. They live in the midst of the forests of Bhowal, Cossim- 

 pore, and Atteya, and notwithstanding the unhealthy state of this part 

 of the country, they suffer much less from malaria, than the other inha- 

 bitants in the same part of the district. With the axe and hoe they 

 clear away the jungle, and cultivate rice, oilseeds, and cotton, which 

 they sell or barter at the weekly markets held in the vicinity of the 

 forest. They often suddenly vacate their locations, and the land they 

 have brought into cultivation, and move into the interior, where they 

 lecoinmence their labour of clearing away the jungle. They live in small 

 villages consisting of a few huts frequently situated at a considerable 

 distance from each other. They eat animal food and drink spirits, and 

 from this mode of living they possess considerable physical strength, 

 and armed with spears do not hesitate to attack on foot, wild elephants 

 and tigers. They are strictly honest and faithful in all their dealings, 

 and have the virtue, which few of their neighbours possess, of paying a 

 great regard to truth. They are of a taciturn and reserved disposition. 

 These tribes have different languages, and are in the practice of carrying 

 on traffic with the Bengalese and Assamese, through the medium of per- 

 sons, who act as interpreters and brokers at the marts they visit. Many of 

 them, however, can speak the Bengalee language and barter their goods 

 themselves. In former times, the intercourse between the aboriginal 

 tribes and the civilized people of the plains was much less frequent, than 

 it is in the present day. The hill men accompanied by their wives and 

 children generally travelled in large bodies to the marts or hauts on the 

 frontier : and on their arrival there, they held no direct communication 

 with the people of the plains, but sold their goods, either through inter- 

 preters, or by means of signs — both parties keeping at a dictance from 

 each other during the negotiation. I have been informed by some old 

 native merchants of Dacca, who formerly carried on trade in Tipperah, 

 that before the Company's Government was established in that district, 

 the Kookis from the oppression and injustice which they suffered from 



