1855.] Notes on Northern Cachar. 645 



is an ungainly large bladed head, shaped like a diamond, the haft, 

 with the exception of about a foot, being of metal also. Although 

 the spear is commonly carried by the Kookies, they do not trust to it 

 to the same extent as the Nagas, but prefer their dhaos, with which 

 they are most expert. Kookie women likewise carry an iron spear 

 or walking stick when travelling : this is shaped exactly like a 

 straight spit with a button at one end as a handle. In war, the 

 defensive armour of the Kookies consists of a breast piece made of 

 rhinoceros's hide, which girds the whole body ; it is suspended by the 

 shoulders and tied behind, and is quite impervious to either spear 

 thrown or arrow shot, bnt would be of no avail against a bullet. 



A small and very peculiar shield is also carried in battle, its shape 

 is that of a trapezoid with a length of two feet, and a mean breadth 

 of fifteen inches ; it is made of buffalo hide, and the upper or 

 broader half is covered over with small round conical brass plates, 

 overlapping one another, from which are pendant long tassels of 

 goat's hair dyed red, which hang down on the lower half. This 

 is suspended round the neck by a thong of leather, and has a handle 

 on the inner side. This also is far from being bullet-proof. By far 

 the most formidable means of defence, and it may be said of offence 

 also, used by the Kookies, are small bamboo spikes commonly called 

 "panjies." These are carried to the number of about a hundred* 

 by eacli man equipped for battle, in small wicker-work quiver-shaped 

 baskets. They are made of the hardest and best seasoned bamboos, are 

 seldom more than six inches long, and only thick enough to prevent 

 any great pliancy. They are pointed at both ends, at one only suffi- 

 ciently so to enable them to be easily stuck into the ground, at the 

 other as sharply as any lancet, and so hard is the bamboo, that it is 

 able to take a fine enough edge to make it available in most surgical 

 operations short of amputation, and a bamboo-knife is the only one 

 used by these wild people, either in operating upon themselves, or 

 in castrating bulls, pigs, &c. 



The panjie thus made, is used in the defence of villages when an 

 attack is expected, the whole of the ground round the villages, 

 except the roads leading to it, being thickly planted with them, 

 the roads themselves being always barricaded. A party retreating 

 before superior numbers also avails itself of this mode of defence, 



