ABORS AND GALONGS. 35 



a dormitory for the unmarried girls called the rasheng, in which they always sleep, but 

 do not cook. The moshap, which is a noticeably long building, is provided with numer- 

 ous exits, and is, as a rule, in a central position ; here guests are entertained and 

 councils are held. Women are forbidden to enter the moshap, but a corresponding 

 self-denying ordinance does not exist as regards the rasheng. At Kombong, the chief 

 Memong village, a fine guest house was noticed some little way outside the village and 

 considerably below it. The Galongs also have a bachelors' barrack, which they call 

 the deri. Although the Galong girls sleep in their parents' houses there is a custom of 

 segregating the women during menstruation in a separate house. This house, it is said, 

 is specially built by the slaves of the village. The Abors do not observe this custom 

 of segregation, which may be compared with ancient Iyevitical regulations. During 

 periods of menstruation, according to the Minyongs, the women are not segregated 

 in other houses but sleep on the far side of the hearth. The Mishmis and Daflas have 

 neither moshap nor rasheng. 



The household possessions of the Abors and kindred tribes can be divided into 

 two groups. The first, purely domestic gear; the second, those articles that pass as 

 current currency throughout the country. The first group include 



the modern brassware obtained from the Plains, looms and 

 spinning gear, bamboo chungas, mats (generally of screw pine) and more or less ela- 

 borate cane basket work of various descriptions. The second category includes dankis, 

 gongs, bells, and necklaces of old porcelain beads, besides merangs and other interest- 

 ing bits of metal work. Mithan and slaves are of high commercial value. Values and 

 prices are extremely difficult to convert into ordinary currency. The worth of any 

 particular thing depends upon size and workmanship ; cattle naturally vary greatly 

 in price, and the common phrase " so many mithan " is consequently misleading. 1 

 Slaves are valued according to their working capacity and sex. Moreover the same 

 article varies very appreciably in value in different localities. 



Dankis are made in Tibet. It is possible that some are brought down the Dihang 



and Siyom valleys ; but as those recently obtained in Riga 

 were all said to come from the Padam, it is most probable 

 that these interesting bowls are imported from Eastern Tibet through the upper 

 Dibang valley and so into the Abor hills. Even the bowls that are obvious copies of 

 finer work are far superior to anything that the Abors and allied tribes are known to 

 manufacture. Abor art does not appear to rise above the simplest conventional 

 designs to the representation of animal life which, in a people with whom hunting fills 

 so prominent a place, is practically the negation of art. The dankis* are ornamented 

 with conventional Buddhist symbols that are meaningless to the tribes south of Tibet. 

 These dankis are commonly found, and used as money, in the villages right down to the 

 plains of Assam. The bowls are obviously cast, and, as the typical dimensions may 



1 The average beiug from 45 to 75 rupees, but they have been known to fetch 120 rupees. Rupees of course are 

 valueless to the Abors, Galongs and Daflas living in villages out of touch with Assam. Even the foot-hill villagers have 

 to be educated up to a belief in the value of the smaller silver pieces. 



« See Plate XXIII. 



