32 GEORGE D-S-DUNBAR ON 



the east. Neither men nor women shave their heads like the Minyongs ; indeed 

 they take what steps they can to adorn their hair, for the men bind it with a fillet 

 made of long strips of cane or hide studded with small white metal bosses. This 

 fillet has not been found outside the Dafla Hills The wealthier men wear earrings 

 that look like aluminium egg-cups. The Western Daflas wear yellow or white ' ' hill 

 amber ' ' l necklaces, but the Subansiri clans wear strings of large round blue porcelain 

 beads that are highly prized and are handed down as heirlooms. They differ in 

 shape but not in substance from the best Abor and Galong beads. They carry daos > 

 and hang a long metal skewer round their necks Smoking materials are carried in a 

 snakeskin or sambhur skin satchel. 



Their costume accords with the briefest and simplest description, for it consists, 

 South of the Kamla at least, of a small loin cloth, a few cane rings round the waist, 

 and a blanket, which very occasionally was found to be of wool and imported from 

 Tibet. The ordinary flatfish hill basket is in general use, and in wet weather the 

 black fibrous (or, sometimes, bear skin) ruksack is carried. The dress of the women 

 has already been described. 



Only two musical instruments are made in the country, the gourd pipe and what 

 J . , T can best be described as the Abor harp. (Plate XIX ) 



Musical Instruments. ± \ *- " 1 -' v v 



The cymbals, drums and gongs occasionally found through- 

 out the hills are all imported. The commoner of the locally-made instruments consists 

 of a gourd with a hollow stem 9 to 10 inches long. Through the bulb of the gourd are 

 thrust four reeds, three of the pipes being in a line, the other being inserted nearer the 

 stem of the instrument. The solitary reed has one notch on one side of it and two 

 on the other ; the other three reeds have four and one, five, and seven respectively. 

 There is, of course, a clear passage from the whistle-pipe mouths of the reeds to the 

 end projecting through the bulb of the gourd. The sounds produced are like the notes 

 of a chanter. 



The Abor harp is made of a splinter of bamboo, the centre of which is cut into a 

 tongue, and two pieces of string. Strains of music are produced by twisting one string 

 round the first joint of the forefinger . of the left hand until the bamboo slip almost 

 touches the finger. Then place the convex side of the ' ' harp ' ' against the teeth and 

 pull the second string with the right hand. This must be done in short jerks and in 

 exact prolongation of the bamboo slip, a procedure differing from the way in which 

 the Jews' harp is played. The vibration of the bamboo tongue produces the music. 



The following account of the migration from Kebang to Mishing, given by one of 

 „., „ „. , „ , the first colonists, shows how new settlements are founded 



The Founding of a Colony. 



when the over-population of the village makes migration 

 necessary. Ten men, the inmates of five houses, left Kebang with their women-folk 

 after the harvest was cut to prospect, but without removing their mithan, goods or chat- 

 tels from Kebang. This most probably took place early in December, when springs 

 are at their lowest and the question of water on the prospective site could best be settled. 



l Frequently known as serpentine. 



