1845.] Visit to the Hills near the Soobanshiri River. 265 



tracts appertaining to this village get too little sun for those crops. 

 The bobsa and goom dhan are sown in the same ground and at the 

 same time, and round the squares which contain these crops they plant 

 yams and other edible roots ; they have not got the potato, but it would 

 most likely grow well and be serviceable to them ; they sow red pepper, 

 which succeeds admirably. Tobacco is generally grown in patches 

 near the houses. The labour of cultivation and all labour falls chiefly 

 on the women. They have few of them other implements than their 

 daws, which are used to clear, cut and dig with. The men consider it 

 sufficient to occupy themselves in hunting and attending to their vari- 

 ous snares and spring bows for wild animals, and when the season ar- 

 rives for the trade, in collecting manjeet, which is performed by both 

 sexes. 



The manjeet grows in steep declivities, interlaced and entangled with 

 other shrubs, so that it is not easy speedily to collect a quantity, at 

 least all that I found of it was little ; the leaf of the genuine kind is small, 

 narrow and pointed, and slightly suffused with a tinge of the colouring 

 matter. There is a bastard kind also found in great quantities, the 

 leaves of which are very much larger and the plant altogether coarser 

 in appearance ; it is called the female manjeet by the Meris, and though 

 similar in growth with the other, its flexible shoots contain scarcely any 

 colouring matter. Nevertheless, it is sometimes brought down mixed 

 with the finer. The Meris assured me that this fraud was not theirs, 

 but was practised upon them by the Abors. I recommended them for 

 their own sake to bring down none but the best, and they promised that 

 none other should leave their country. They collect and tie it up in bun- 

 dles when fresh and flexible, then lay it on frames or hang it up to the eaves 

 of their houses to dry ; when it becomes rather brittle, it is fit for ex- 

 portation. The Mytton is the only species of horned cattle possessed 

 by the Meris. It is rather a clumsy looking animal in make ; but a 

 group of Myttons grazing on the steep rocky declivities they seem 

 to love, would be a noble study for Landseer ; some are milk-white, some 

 nearly black, some black and white, and some red and white. To 

 the Meris they are only useful as food. On festive occasions one 

 is killed, and I should think the beef must be excellent; they feed 

 most delicately on young leaves, and keep in excellent condition. The 



