[26] As the woman would probably take the opportunity of bathing and washing her own clothes, it would have been contrary to Lhota etiquette for her husband to have gone with her. [↑]
[27] Cf. Perry, Megalithic Culture of Indonesia, chap. xii. The Vuite clan of Kukis are also sprung from Dongel and his sister, and the Kukis, like the Lhotas, have a legend of a period of great darkness and floods over the earth and fires (The Thimzing), during which the greater part of mankind was drowned.—J. H. H. [↑]
[28] The version of the story given here is that current among the Northern Lhotas. In the Southern Lhota account Lankongrhoni escapes into a porcupine’s hole, from which she is afterwards dug out and killed. [↑]
[29] In the Sema version a man throws cow-dung at the sun and turns it into the moon. In another Assam version ashes are thrown. In a Mexican version a hare or rabbit is thrown. In all the effect is the same. The hotter orb is turned into the cooler one. I have not met the story among Angamis, who describe the marks on the moon’s face as a tree or as nettles.—J. H. H. [↑]
[30] In one version the sun-bird is substituted for the wagtail. [↑]
[31] The Kabuis have a similar story of a cure for leprosy being revealed by a snake; cf. T. C. Hodson, Naga Tribes of Manipur, p. 129. [↑]
[32] One is reminded of the reported use of “tortoise” by the Chinese as a term of mild opprobrium.—J. H. H. [↑]
[33] I.e. the Deputy Commissioner of the Naga Hills and the Subdivisional Officer of Mokokchung. [↑]