4^5 
to plant his crops for him; when the work is over he entertains 
them with a feast. The fields close to the village are naturally 
the richest; their owners can grow more rice than they require, 
and therefore usually let a portion. At times they let the whole 
and take exclusively to trading. The rents are paid mainly in rice. During 
the rains an Angami family usually lives in a temporary hut beside its fields 
which are often miles from village. The principal rice crop is grown on 
the irrigated ground; on the “jhum” an inferior early rice, maize, and 
Job’s tears are the chief crops. Among these are scattered plants of a 
labiate grown for the sake of its oily leaves and seeds. Cotton is only 
grown on the lower ranges near the plains. Colocasia, chillies, cucumbers, 
gourds and of late years potatoes, are grown near the hut, while the soy¬ 
bean 5) is cultivated close by. The boys spend their time scaring 
birds : scarecrows too stud the fields. Of these there are many kinds, but 
the most artistic is a framework of cane over which is drawn a Naga cloth 
with leggings hung at a proper distance below, and some black cloth at the 
top for a scalp. There is no mask, but the ear tufts are present and, 
catching the eye from afar, make the simulacrum hard to distinguish from 
a man. The pigs and cattle accompany their owners to the fields, but are 
kept out of the crops by fences of felled trees and “pangis”. The pigs are 
black, very dirty feeders—as are fowls, which resemble jungle-fowl and lay 
a small but well-flavoured egg. When the pigs are taken to and from the 
fields they are not driven; their legs are tied together and their snouts 
bound with canes, after which they are deported in the field-baskets. 
Similarly fowls are brought for sale woven each into a wide-meshed cane 
frame inside which it cannot move. The heads alone emerge through the 
wicker; when the dealer stops to trade he empties his basketful of fowls 
on the path where they roll about like so many balls, and scatters a hand¬ 
ful of rice for them to pick till the bargain is concluded. Ducks are not 
kept. Very few possess buffaloes ; the cattle usually kept belong to a 
small duncoloured sleek haired breed with flesh of good flavour, but yield¬ 
ing no milk. Milk is considered by the Angami to be excreraentitious. 
The udders of this breed are small and after the calves are weaned 
speedily resume their original size. The animals are timid with 
1 ) Coix lachryma. 
3 ) Perilla ocimoides. 
*) Glycine hirsuta. 
15 
