28 
[No. 1, 
S. E. Peal — Visit to the Naga Ilills. 
When once with a number of Banparas on the road, a large party of 
Nagas passed, and as neither party spoke, I asked who they were. I was 
pointed out their hill, and on asking why they did not speak, they said they 
would not understand one another. This I thought a good opportunity 
to try them, and told them to call them'in Naga and ask who they were. On 
being called to, they all turned round, and stopped, but said nothing ; I 
then made them call again; but to no purpose, the other party simply jabbered 
together in twos and threes, and on calling them a third time as to where they 
were going, they shouted out a lot of Naga which my fellows could not make 
out. Both parties passed on, unable to exchange a word, though living 
within a few miles of each other. A few words did pass, but they were As- 
amese. I asked how they knew the men, and they said “by their ak,” or 
tattoo marks. There is more lingual variation among the remote tribes, I 
believe, than those bordering As&m, as the latter frequently meet in the plains 
on a peaceful footing, while the Abors are shut out from all intercourse. 
The physique also varies with the tribe. I can as a rule tell a Joboka 
man from a Banpara, and those from a Muton, or Namsangia, and Asamese. 
Those who are familiar with the tribes can easily do so, without seeing the ak to 
guide them, simply judging by their general physique and colour. Of course 
there are exceptional cases, such as small stunted men, or others unusually tall 
or well made. 
Practically, the extraordinary confusion of tongues opposes a serious 
obstacle to the explorer, and the sooner we set to work to reduce the confusion 
by inducing opposite causes, the better for us and our successors, and for them 
and their successors. Tattooing as a decoration, or prize for committing 
murder, is at the bottom of it all, I fancy, and is so deeply rooted, that it 
may take a long time to eradicate by peaceful means. 
Their religion seems confined to the fear of a legion of deotas or devils, 
and has no system, and their devils are of course on a par with their limited 
ideas. Whatever they do not understand, is the work of a ‘ deota.’* 
Every tree, rock, or path, has its ‘ deo,’ especially lor trees, and water- 
falls. If a man is mad, a deo possesses him, who is propitiated by offerings 
of dhan, spirits, or other eatables. Deos in fact are omnipresent, and are 
supposed to do little else than distress human beings. The only remedy 
is presents and counter witchcraft. They seem to have no idea of a Supreme 
Being, the idea is certainly not ‘ innate’ here. There are no regular priests, 
though they have ‘ deorfs,’ men whose office it is to bury or attend to the 
dead. Two or more such men are in each village. They tie up the corpse 
* I was once asked by a Naga to point out which of two men had robbed him of 
three Rupees, and to use, for the purpose, a small horse-shoe magnet I had. Ho was 
under the impression that it was capable of pointing out moral delinquencies. 
