1847-] Periphis of the Erythrean Sea, fyc. 73 



Skins. — Pliny mentions that the Sores exported skins and iron along 

 with their cloths. These skins are mentioned under the name of ^vp^a 

 Sept-iara in the Periplus. They evidently refer to the rhinoceros and 

 buffalo hides of Assam, from which the Sylhet shields are made, and 

 which are celebrated throughout India, both on account of their 

 strength, and the fine polish which is imparted to their surface by the 

 juice of the Semicarpus anacardium. The Romans in all probability 

 imported these hides for the manufacture of their shields. 



Iron. — The iron of Serica was considered the best in India (Ex omni- 

 bus generibus palma Serico ferro est. Seres hoc cum vestibus suis pelli- 

 busque mittunt. Secunda Parthico, neque alia genera fcrri ex mera 

 acie temperantur, ceteris enim admiscetur).* Assam and the adjacent 

 countries abound in iron. Dr. Buchanan states that "at Doyang, south- 

 west from Jorhat, a day's journey, there is an iron mine which is 

 wrought on account of the king. It supplies the whole country with 

 abundance."t Speaking of the places where iron ore is dug out by the 

 Khassias, Lieut. Yule remarks : " so numerous and extensive are the 

 traces of former excavations, that judging by the number at present in 

 progress, one may guess them to have occupied the population for 

 twenty centuries." J Malte Brim mentions that " Assam is celebrated 

 for its steel." This refers to the daos that are manufactured by the 

 hill tribes, viz., the Nagas, Abors and the Khamtis. 



Chowrees. — The fly drivers made of the long glossy hair of the tail 

 of the Yak (Bos grunniens) appear to be the articles mentioned under the 

 name of Capilli Indici in the Digest. A chowree was one of the insignia 

 of royalty among the ancient Hindoos, and was used in Persia for the 

 fringed knots called Kirtas, which are generally ornamented with gold, 

 and hung round the necks of horses, as a charm against fascination. 

 The Chinese make tufts of it for their caps, and the Turks adorn their 

 military standards with it. Chowrees have always been an article of 

 importation into Rungpore and Assam from Bootan and Thibet, and no 

 doubt, they formed one of the exports from the Gangetic mart of the 

 Periplus. /Elian mentions the long bushy tail of the Yak, and it may, 

 therefore, be concluded that it constituted the Capilfi Indici specified 



* Pliny, Lib. XXXIII. C. XIV. 



f Martin's Eastern India, Vol. III. p. GG(h 



i Journal Asiatic Society, Vol, XL p. 853, 



