610 Notes on Northern Cachar. [No. 7. 



When any difference occurs between two men of the same village, 

 which is rarely the case, each individual has his party who cling to 

 him and take up his quarrel, not by any means from a sense of 

 justice, but from relationship — and a civil war ensues which it is 

 disgusting to contemplate. It is not to be wondered at, then, with 

 such evils before them, evils which are brought home to every 

 member of the society, that the Nagas are so careful to curb their 

 passions on small matters, and to avoid entrance into a quarrel, 

 when, being in, they carry it out to such exterminating lengths : 

 and therefore, anomalous as it may seem, the most baneful passion 

 that arises in the heart of man carried to extremity is the cause, 

 in this instance, of the existence of a society without laws and 

 constituted authority living in general peace and honesty. I do 

 not think this state of things is without precedent, even in the his- 

 tory of our own country. If we take into consideration the state 

 of the Highlands of Scotland some one hundred and fifty years ago, I 

 think, we shall find many points in which great similarity exists. 

 There, though subjected to chieftains, the clans were left with very 

 little more law, than that which each man carried at his side in the 

 shape of a broad sword. There again the spirit of revenge was 

 paramount in every breast. The fiery Celt could brook no insult, 

 and feuds between clans espousing the cause of individuals were 

 frequent and bloody. Tet no circumstance of internal anarchy 

 marked those lawless days. Society was not outraged, and the dif- 

 ferent communities were among themselves peaceful, hospitable and 

 neighbourly, rigidly avoiding all cause of quarrel, being sufficiently 

 urged to curb their temper, by dread of the consequences which 

 •would ensue, from no other agent, but unmitigated revenge. 



Notwithstanding the staidness in the Naga character, arising from 

 the circumstances mentioned, they do, at certain seasons, find vent 

 for the indulgence of private grudges that they owe to individuals 

 among themselves, in a way at once harmless and ludicrous. At 

 certain stated times, once or twice in the course of a year, all the 

 village adjourns to some convenient spot, and a general melee takes 

 place, every one fighting for his own band, but using no weapons 

 save those with which nature has provided him. These conflicts 

 are very fierce, and the bruises and scratches given and received 



