CRANIOLOGY OF PEOPLE OF INDIA. 727 



South Shan Tribes. Table VII. (Plate XIV.) 



The second group of skulls were received from Captain R. D. Macgregor, I. M.S., 

 Civil Surgeon at Loi Mwe.* They were five in number and belonged to various tribes 

 in the district of Keng Tung (Kyaington, Kiang Tung), one of the Southern Shan States, 

 which is situated between the Salween and Mehong Rivers, between 21° and 22° 

 latitude. 



Captain Macgregor writes that the skulls were obtained with considerable 

 difficulty, as the tribes are very shy and superstitious, especially in regard to their 

 dead. Facts as to age and sex could not be obtained. He did not himself procure 

 them from their burial-places, but he regards his agents as trustworthy, and that the 

 names given to the skulls are correct. 



No. 1 is marked Tai Loi, a name which probably signifies Hill Shans ; they are 

 regarded as people of Wa origin who had adopted Buddhism. They have profited 

 by Shan civilisation and bury the dead, but they still sacrifice and make offerings 

 to spirits. 



No. 2. The Tame Wa live on hills of a moderate elevation in Keng Tung. A 

 section of the Wa tribes is named the Wild Wa ; they occupy the country about 

 100 miles along the Salween River, and the watershed between it and the Mehong 

 River, though isolated villages occur as far east as the latter river. Some Wa tribes 

 have adopted Buddhism, but generally they are spirit-worshippers. 



No. 3, marked Mu Hso, was from a tribe, called variously La'hu, Law'-he, or Myen, 

 which is said to have come originally from the region of the Irawaddy, where 

 descendants can yet be found ; but they extended their territory to the west of the 

 Salween River, where lands were allotted to them and where they came into contact 

 with the Was. 



No. 4, marked Kwi, are apparently of the La'hu tribe ; they have received from the 

 Shans the name Kwi, but their real tribal name is Lahuchi. Their houses are built of 

 bamboo and are raised from the ground. Marriage is monogamous. The custom of 

 burning the dead prevails. They offer sacrifices to the spirits of the hills and forests. 



No. 5 is marked Akha, a tribe which is also known as the Kaw or Hka-Kaw. 

 They are the most numerous and most widely distributed of the tribes in the eastern 

 hills in Keng Tung, and some are met with to the east of the Mehong River, where 

 they come into contact with the Chinese. Their skin is swarthy, with coarse heavy 

 features quite distinct from those of the Shans, and with a higher bridge to the nose 

 and rounder eyes than the Chinese. Their characteristic feature is perhaps their 

 pointed projecting jaw. They bury the dead. Their religion is ancestor- or spirit- 

 worship, and they offer sacrifices. 



* I wish to express my thanks to Captain Macgregor and Captain Augustine not only for the skulls but for the 

 notes which accompanied them ; also for drawing my attention to the Gazetteer of Upper Burma and the Shan States, 

 in which I have been able to obtain additional information regarding the distribution, appearance and habits of the 

 people whose skulls had been collected. 



