[47] In this connection the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (“Leopard Men in the Naga Hills”) for Jan.–June 1920 may be referred to.—J. H. H. [↑]
[48] Among other Naga tribes these stones must be black and heavy for their size, and show a wet smear when rubbed with the thumb. They are nodules of some stone which is not a normal geological feature of the country, and are regarded as distinct from the larger water-worn stones kept to bring fortune to the community, which are definitely of the locality. Cf. The Sema Nagas, Part IV. (Anagha).—J. H. H. [↑]
[49] See The Angami Nagas, Part I.—J. H. H. [↑]
[50] The Semas and some other tribes rub them with pig’s fat.—J. H. H. [↑]
[51] It may be noticed that the presentation of fish by a man to his betrothed is the formal sign of the completion of an Ao marriage.—J. H. H. [↑]
[52] Cf. Apuleius, The Golden Ass, Chap. XV.—J. H. H. [↑]
[53] Rarakham appears to be the same as the Sema pulakhu, which, however, was identified for me as Mosla dianthera. It is quite likely that both plants are used by Nagas under the same name.—J. H. H. [↑]
[54] The Aos erect a stout and tall rice plant on a piece of bamboo and put it by the field to make the rice grow, by its good example, as high from the ground as the top of the uplifted rice plant.—J. H. H. [↑]
[55] There is a white serow of supernatural qualities at Seromi in the Sema country, and the Assamese, indeed, call the species deo-chaguli, “the spirit-goat,” no doubt owing to its exceeding shyness and elusiveness.—J. H. H. [↑]
[56] Lobeni, a dream-woman of Phiro, who was an acquaintance of mine and whose dreams of hunting prospects were famous for their accuracy, used to ask for a cloth or handkerchief of her client on which she used to sleep. The same practice is recorded of the Moscoc, dream diviners of Peru. (Memorias Antiguas Historiales del Peru, Hakluyt Soc. 1920, p. 60, note.)—J. H. H. [↑]