The Ethnology of India. 97 



in the country far towards the frontier in this direction, the people 

 who are the fairest and handsomest, are not considered the most 

 plucky and trustworthy; the blood of Cashmere and Swat does not 

 seem altogether to tend to these latter qualities. I cannot attempt 

 to trace the minor tribes of Alpials, (fee. &c. &c. Both the Awans 

 of the lower lands and the Dhoonds, &c. of the higher lands seem 

 to have democratic village constitutions. 



Till we know something of the language of the tribes of the hills 

 west of Cashmere, it would not be safe to speculate on the origin of 

 the people of this corner of India. If the language of the hills is 

 nearly allied to the Hindec and the Punjabee, we may suppose that 

 these are Indianised tribes from the same source. If on the other 

 hand the hill tribes speak a tongue of an earlier Arian form, then we 

 must look to people of the blood of the Jats and Rajpoots for the 

 introduction of the Hindec form of speech both here and in the rest 

 of Hindustan. Looking to the want of any proper tribal name of 

 the Rajpoots, it might be that before they became famous in Hindu 

 story, some of them occupying the Punjab surmounted the Salt Kange 

 and mixing with some aboriginal Caucasians, formed the present 

 tribes. Nowhere is there room for more interesting inquiry than in 

 this direction. 



Passing farther down in the Punjab I only remember one class of 

 the character that I am now describing, the Doghurs, a Mahommedan 

 tribe found near the Sutlej, fine, good-looking, high-featured men, but 

 not very reliable and rather given to cattle-lifting. I do not know 

 their origin. 



Beyond the Sutlej again I have mentioned the Bhattees of Bha- 

 teeana, whose origin is also obscure. But they are certainly one of 

 the very finest and handsomest tribes in India. 



In the Simla hills, most of the land is held by a local tribe called 

 Kanaits. They are inferior in position to Rajpoots, more perhaps of 

 the level of Koormees and Lodhas, but they are often educated, and 

 men of this class are generally ministers to the Rajpoot chiefs. In 

 certain places there is a partial and local practice of polyandry among 

 them, but it is not the general custom of the tribe. All those who 

 are not (in the upper hills) in contact with Tartars are quite Arian, 

 though not very large ; the women very nice-looking. 



