1855.] Notes on Northern Cachar. 643 



in the death of the animal at not more than half a mile from the 

 spot on which he was hit. So wary are the elephants, however, that 

 it is seldom that more than two out of a herd are killed. At the 

 place where their game is found dead they commence cutting him 

 up, and extract his tusks ; laden with these and as much of the 

 flesh as they can carry, they return home, and other parties go out 

 and encamp in the neighbourhood of the carcase until they have 

 entirely consumed it, or are driven away by the effluvia of decom- 

 position. Portions of the flesh that they cannot immediately eat 

 are dried and smoked to be kept for future consumption. The 

 Kookies also hunt the methin or wild cow, which they have likewise 

 succeeded in domesticating, having introduced the breed to North- 

 ern Cachar. 



The deadly poison used by the Kookies is, they say, extracted 

 from a tree which does not grow in these parts, but the article is 

 brought to them for sale by tribes inhabiting the borders of Mani- 

 pur. The substance is of a dark blue or black colour and of about 

 the consistency of common rezin. To make it serviceable it is 

 ground down with capsicum seeds and tobacco juice, so as to form a 

 pulp, with which the weapons are smeared, cotton soaked in the 

 mixture being also tied to the iron under the barb. I had once the 

 cruelty to try the effect of this poison on two domestic fowls, to 

 one I administered internally a dose equal to about two common 

 sized pills, and I punctured one of the legs of the other, so as 

 merely to draw blood, with a pointed bamboo about the size of a 

 toothpick which had been dipped into the mixture. The latter 

 died in twenty minutes without much apparent pain, and in the 

 former no effects whatever could be perceived, and it may be crow- 

 ing to the present day. Another poison called deo-bi, is used by 

 the Kookies to kill fish, and has an intoxicating effect upon them, 

 forcing them to the surface, when it is thrown into the water. The 

 Kookies also spear fish, but have not much idea of catching them 

 by the hook or net. 



The dress and ornaments of the Kookies are most diverse, and 

 some not wanting in taste. These articles are chiefly of their 

 own manufacture, and they indent but seldom on Manchester for 

 their cottons. They weave several kinds of cloth, of a coarse but 



