11 
1872.] S. E. Peal — Visit to the Nagd Hills. 
talking away as if we understood every word of his Naga, and rattling his 
heads and bits of metal as he walked about. We soon afterwards 
proceeded over some undulating ground, and then took to the bed of another 
stream, also rocky, narrow, dark, and slippery ; the rocks still being sand- 
stone, with a dip to the south of 70 0 to 80°, in fact almost vertical, the 
strike running nearly east and west like the range itself. At a more open 
part of the road, we came to a large pit, about 12' X 8' X 12' deep, right 
in the path, and made to catch wild elephants. The bottom literally 
bristled with large bamboo spears, 5 or 6 feet long, firmly fixed in the 
earth, and carefully sharpened — certain death to any elephant falling in. 
The pit was nearly hidden by overhanging grass and creepers and 
was dug at a spot where the path on either side was difficult, and the 
edges were undermined. After seeing our elephants pass this safely, we 
went on the road now descending, and still over rock, usually very slippery, 
and winding about abruptly, when after a second steep descent, we heard the 
rush of water below and caught glimpses of the hills beyond. The stream was 
soon reached. It is a tributary of the Tiok, called the Sissa, running here 
to the east. It was now a small stream, but the rounded boulders on the 
flanks bore witness to its being at times a formidable obstacle. Having 
our doubts about the elephants being able to reach this point, we sat down 
at a little ‘ Dhubi’, or water hole, under the shade of a Bor tree. The pool 
turned out to be full of fish, so plentiful in fact that on throwing in a 
small bit of gravel the whole bottom seemed to rise from all sides. Most 
of them were small ; there were however a few large ones near the bottom. 
The only way the Nagds take them is by hand or poison ; but we saw 
a lot of Naganis carefully turning the stones over, and occasionally catching 
a little one. 
A Sowdong and a Ilundekai both of whom I knew well, were here waiting 
for our arrival. A 1 Sowdong’ is a sort of travelling deputy to the Rajah ; and 
a ‘ Hundekai’ is a resident deputy, and is of a higher grade. The highest next 
to the Rajah and his family is a ‘ Khunsai,’ and there is one to each village. 
We consulted them as to the best route, and they at first advised us to go along 
the bed of the stream ; but as it was so full of huge rocks and holes, that ne 
elephant could pass, we had to decide on the ordinary mountain path via 
Longhong, the shortest way, but by far the steepest. The elephants at 
last made their appearance ; how they managed to get down places, where 
we had to scramble on all fours was a mystery to us — at times they seemed 
immediately over us. 
We crossed some deep clefts over which there were rude bridges. The 
steepness of the ascent, especially under the hot sun, soon began to tell on us, 
and the elephants seemed so distressed, though we were not half way up, that 
we called a halt, and held a council, the first result being to unload the ele- 
