KHYEN TRIBE. S67 



rupees, but if the murderer is unable to pay the fine, or procure his sureties, he 

 is himself kept in servitude. Should he escape, and take refuge in another vil- 

 lage, the inhabitants of it immediately return him, if they have a proper sense 

 of propriety, but if they do not, and refuse to send the culprit back when de- 

 manded, war is denounced against them, and their village destroyed. The 

 murderer, if taken, is re-committed to slavery, it being expressly recommended 

 them by the Passine, not to shed the blood of each other. 



Theft is not considered a very heinous crime, but should corn be purloin- 

 ed, the offender is obliged to purchase his own freedom, either by finding a 

 substitute, or paying thirty rupees. 



The Khyens have no knowledge of medicine, but, on the contrary, appear 

 to hold it in great contempt. When, therefore, a man is taken ill, he is taken 

 to the Passine, who first partaking of a feast prepared by the friends of the 

 invalid, recites incantations over him, and uses the meteoric stone as a charm 

 against all the ravages of the disease. If these do not prove efficacious, the 

 man is left to his fate, and no further exertion is made to save him. 



Hospitality is a virtue which it is difficult to ascertain whether they 

 would put in practice or not, shunning as they do, all intercourse with strangers, 

 the manner in which one intruding on their haunts would be received, seems 

 rather problematical. They however state, that if a foreigner was to fall in 

 with one of their villages, he would not be ill treated, but they did not recollect 

 such a visit ever having taken place. 



From the wild cotton growing in the mountains, the Khyen women fabri- 

 cate their own clothes, and even make enough to become an article of trafliic 

 with the low-landers. Silver is not procured in the mountains, but iron ore 

 is found in considerable quantity, and with honey and dried fish, forms the 



