The principal pán gardens are on the south side of the hills, pán not being grown on the northern slopes, except in the neighbourhood of Jirang. The pán creepers are raised from cuttings, the latter being planted close to the trees up which they are to be trained. The creeper is manured with leaf mould. The plant is watered by means of small bamboo aqueducts which are constructed along the hill-sides, the water being conducted along them often considerable distances. As in the plains, the leaves of the pán creeper are collected throughout the year.
The bay leaf ('la tyrpád, or tezpát) is classified in the Agricultural Bulletin as Cinnamomum tamala, and there is a note in the column of remarks that "this tree, as well as one or two others of the same genus, yields two distinct products, tezpát (bay leaf) and cinnamon bark." The bay leaf is gathered for export from the extensive gardens in Maharam, Malaisohmat, Mawsynram, and other Khasi States. The plants are raised from seed, although there are no regular nurseries, the young seedlings being transplanted from the jungle, where they have germinated, to regular gardens. Bay leaf gardens are cleared of jungle and weeds periodically; otherwise no care is taken of them. The leaf-gathering season is from November to March. The leaves are allowed to dry for a day or two in the sun, and then packed in large baskets for export. The gathering of bay leaf begins when the trees are about four years old.
The following are the other minor crops which are grown in the Khasi and Jaintia Hills:—
Pineapples, turmeric, ginger, pumpkins and gourds, the egg plant, chillies, sesamum, and a little sugar-cane. The arum [18] (ka shiriw) is also extensively grown in the hills, and forms one of the principal articles of food amongst the poorer classes; it is generally raised in rotation with potatoes, or is planted along with Job's tears. The stem of the arum is sometimes used as a vegetable, also for feeding pigs.
In the Jowai Sub-Division, notably at Nartiang, there are fairly good mangoes, which are more free from worms than those grown in the plains of Assam.
The Bhois and Lynngams cultivate lac. They plant arhar dal, u landoo, in their fields, and rear the lac insect on this plant. Last year the price of lac at Gauhati and Palasbari markets rose as high as Rs. 50 per maund of 82 lbs., it is said, but the price at the outlying markets of Singra and Boko was about Rs. 30. The price of lac has risen a good deal of late years. Formerly the price was about Rs. 15 to Rs. 20 a maund. The lac trade in the Jaintia Hills and in the southern portion of the Khyrim State is a valuable one. The profits, however, go largely to middle-men, who in the Jaintia Hills are Syntengs from Jowai, who give out advances to the Bhoi cultivators on the condition that they will be repaid in lac. The Marwari merchants from the plains attend all the plains markets which are frequented by the hill-men, and buy up the lac and export it to Calcutta. The whole of the lac is of the kind known as stick lac.
Hunting.
The weapons used by the Khasis for hunting are bows and arrows, the latter with barbed iron heads, and spears which are used both for casting and thrusting. Before proceeding on a hunting expedition the hunters break eggs, in order to ascertain whether they will be successful or not, and to which jungle they should proceed. Offerings are also made to certain village deities, e.g. U. Ryngkew, u Basa, and u Basa ki mrád. A lucky day having been selected and the deities propitiated, the hunters start with a number of dogs trained to the chase, the latter being held on leashes by a party of men called ki nongai-ksew. When the dogs have picked up the scent some hunters are placed as "stops" (ki ktem), at points of vantage in the jungle, and the drive commences with loud shouts from the hunters, the same being continued until the object of the chase breaks into the open. The man who draws the first blood is called u nongsiat, and the second man who scores a hit u nongban. These two men get larger shares of the flesh than the others. The nongsiat obtains the lower half of the body of the animal, thighs and feet excepted, called ka tdong, and the nongban one of the forequarters called ka tabla. The other hunters obtain a string of flesh each, and each hound gets a string of flesh to itself. These hunting parties pursue deer sometimes for many miles, and are indefatigable in the chase, the latter lasting occasionally more than one day. In the Jaintia Hills, at the end of the chase, the quarry is carried to the house of the nongsiat, where a puja is performed to some local deity, before the flesh is distributed. At Shangpung, when a tiger or a mithan is killed, the head is cut off, and is carried in triumph to a hill in the neighbourhood where there is a duwan, or altar, at the foot of an oak tree (dieng sning). The head is displayed on the altar, and worship offered to u 'lei lyngdoh, the God of the doloiship.
The Khasis make use of an ingenious species of spring gun for killing game, the spring gun being laid alongside a deer path in the jungle. A string stretched across the path, when touched, releases a bolt and spring, which latter impels a bamboo arrow with great force across the path. This spring gun is called ka riam siat. A pit-fall, with bamboo spikes at the bottom, is called u 'liw lep, and a trap of the pattern of the ordinary leopard trap is called ka riam slung. A noose attached to a long rope laid in a deer run is named riam syrwiah.
There is also ka riam pap, the principle of which is that an animal is attracted by a bait to walk on to a platform; the platform sinks under the weight of the animal, and a bolt is released which brings down a heavy roof from above weighted with stones, which crush the animal to death.