490 
■discharge of their duties cannot be excluded—they are said to be more 
than mortal and therefore do not count. A friend returned from a 
journey, or a trader guest cannot be entertained at a house in genna—a 
show of resistance made to his taking what he requires is sufficient to 
obviate any violation. It is genna to eat a lop eared dog ;—if its ears be 
first cut-short, it may be eaten so soon as they are healed. The buying 
or selling of a cat involves genna—if the animal is spoken of as a/?«// 
throughout the transaction, no penalty is incurred. VVhen however a 
genna'^is really violated it begins de novo. The Angami are for all this 
naturally a truthful race : simple truth is highly regarded. It is rare for 
a statement to be made on oath, rarer still for it to be false. Indeed 
when such a statement is made, it is Angami ‘‘good manners” to pretend 
to believe it even when palpably untrue. Oaths are taken in a striking 
manner ; a fowl is pulled asunder by the parties engaged to betoken what 
it is wished may happen to them if they fail of truth ; or a weapon is 
placed between the teeth to shew that a violent death is invoked if the 
engagement be not fulfilled. On such occasions stones of witness are 
sometimes set up. These are monoliths like those set up for defence 
along the approaches to a village. Similar monoliths are placed at the 
head of a warrior’s tomb. They are merely large blocks from the detrital 
deposit in the valleys, dragged up with great labour by companies of men 
to the positions they occupy. They are primarily defensive, for while 
villages with few inhabitants, or whose valleys contain no deposit, have 
brought stones considerable distances to set up on their paths, they are 
content with rudely carved wooden posts as monumental pillars for 
tombs. They salute each other verbally only. Those who have travelled 
to the plains greet Europeans with a rude salaam; well known faces 
elicit Aposaha “my father sahib”, and the delight is great if in 
return they are addressed “my friend.” The salaam, such as it is, must not 
be confounded with the habit, especially common in women, of raising 
that hand nearer the stranger and peeping at him under the arched 
palm as he passes. This is done to prevent the consequences of 
‘evil-eye’, which all Europeans are considered to possess. They are 
childishly inquisitive; every new ‘Sahib’ is closely examined to see if 
he too be really white all over ; his belongings are keenly commented 
on. Gifts afford great pleasure, a common formula of thanks being 
“the Sahib has made me his son”. Their curiosity and love of 
presents combined lead to petty pilfering. They are not however 
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