5/0 Notes upon a tour through the Rdjmahal Hills. [No. 7. 



districts; but the buniiihs only give the Sonthal weight for weight 

 in rice for this expensive luxury. A seer of peear is worth eight 

 annas, a seer of rice is worth one pice, so that only one thirty-second 

 portion of its true value is given to4he Sonthal. 



22nd January t 1851. — Direction north. Passed a bungalow at 

 Chundna at the second mile, and from thence struck in under the 

 hills through a series of wild jungly ravines, and amongst gneiss hil- 

 locks and over greenstone dykes to Sundari Kulan, a fine large Son- 

 thai village situate close under the hills, and surrounded by sheets of 

 mustard cultivation. The village is about one mile in length, being 

 one long street one house deep, with about one hundred family enclo- 

 sures, each enclosure occupying from four to five log-wood houses. 

 These enclosures are made with the green boughs of the Sakua ; 

 planted in the ground and tied together they keep each family dis- 

 tinct from its neighbours ; they generally contain a Sonthal and his 

 wife ; several married children and their families ; a pig stye, buffalo 

 shed and a dovecot ; a wooden stand holds the water-pots, the water 

 from which is used for drinking or cooking, there is also a rude 

 wooden press for expressing oil from the mustard seed. In a corner 

 of the yard there will probably be a plough, or a couple of solid 

 wheeled carts, whilst numbers of pigs and poultry are seen in every 

 direction. Each of these enclosures contained on an average ten souls 

 thus giving a population of one thousand to Sundari. 



The street is planted on each side with the pungent sohajna, which 

 tree is a great favorite with the Sonthal. 



The numerous pig-styes and great abundance of poultry in the 

 village, proclaim the absence of caste amongst this free and unshackled 

 and un-priest-ridden tribe. 



Close to my tent I witnessed a sample of their religion, as con- 

 nected with their harvest rejoicings ; it was a wild and extraordinary 

 proceeding, and was as follows. Two men with dishevelled hair and 

 with their heads hanging down as if in the attitude of deep thought, 

 sat under a small shed a few hundred yards from the village ; a drum- 

 mer was beating furiously upon a Sonthal kettle-drum, who gave an 

 extra thump on his instrument as occasional offerings of grain in 

 small leaf bowls were presented by various Sonthals from the village, 

 to a small stone erected in front of the shed ; when the number of 



