“It was owing to the unsettled state of the country, resulting from this feud, that I could gain no guides from the Digaroos, without whose assistance in this most difficult country, I need scarcely say, that all attempts to advance would have been made in vain. These people very plausibly said, if we give you guides, who is to protect us from the vengeance of the Mezhoos when you are gone, and who is to insure us from a second invasion of the Lamas? Another thing to be considered is, the influence even then exercised over the Mishmees near our boundaries by the Singphos connected with the Dupha Gam; but from the renewal of the intercourse with our frontier station, there is every reason for believing that this influence is ere this nearly destroyed.

“The natives of this portion of the range are divided into two tribes, Taeen or Digaroo and Mezhoo, these last tracing their descent from the Dibong Mishmees, who are always known by the term crop-haired. The Mezhoo, however, like the Taeens, preserve their hair, wearing it generally tied in a knot on the crown of their head. The appearance of both tribes is the same, but the language of the Mezhoos is very distinct. They are perhaps the more powerful of the two; but their most influential chiefs reside at a considerable distance from the lower ranges. The only Mezhoos I met with are those at Deeling-Yen, a small village opposite Deeling, but at a much higher elevation, and Tapan. I need scarcely add that it was owing to the opposition of this tribe that Captain WILCOX failed in reaching Lama. The Digaroos are ruled by three influential chiefs, who are brothers DRISONG, KHOSHA, and GHALOOM: of these, DRISONG is the eldest and the most powerful, but he resides far in the interior. PRIMSONG is from a distant stock, and as the three brothers mentioned above are all passed the prime of life, there is but little doubt that he will soon become by far the most influential chief of his tribe. Both tribes appear to intermarry. The Mishmees are a small, active, hardy race, with the Tartar cast of features; they are excessively dirty, and have not the reputation of being honest, although, so far as I know, they are belied in this respect. Like other hill people, they are famous for the muscular development of their legs:—in this last point the women have generally the inferiority. They have no written language. Their clothing is inferior; it is, however, made of cotton, and is of their own manufacture;—that of the men consists of a mere jacket and an apology for a dhoti,—that of the women is more copious, and at any rate quite decent: they are very fond of ornaments, especially beads, the quantities of which they wear is very often quite astonishing. They appear to me certainly superior to the Abors, of whom, however, I have seen but few. Both sexes drink liquor, but they did not seem to me to be so addicted to it as is generally the case with hill tribes:—their usual drink is a fermented liquor made from rice called mont’h: this, however, is far inferior to that of the Singphos, which is really a pleasant drink.

“Religion. Of their religion I could get no satisfactory information—every thing is ascribed to supernatural agency. Their invocations to their deity are frequent, and seem generally to be made with the view of filling their own stomachs with animal food. They live in a very promiscuous manner, one hundred being occasionally accommodated in a single house. Their laws appear to be simple,—all grave crimes being judged by an assembly of Gams, who are on such occasions summoned from considerable distances. All crimes, including murder, are punished by fines: but if the amount is not forthcoming, the offender is cut up by the company assembled. But the crime of adultery, provided it be committed against the consent of the husband, is punished by death; and this severity may perhaps be necessary if we take into account the way in which they live.

“The men always go armed with knives, Lama swords, or Singpho dhaos and lances; and most of them carry cross-bows—the arrows for these are short, made of bamboo, and on all serious occasions are invariably poisoned with bee. When on fighting expeditions, they use shields, made of leather, which are covered towards the centre with the quills of the porcupine. Their lances are made use of only for thrusting: the shafts are made either from the wood of the lawn (Caryota urens) or that of another species of palm juice—they are tipped with an iron spike, and are of great use in the ascent of hills. The lance heads are of their own manufacture, and of very soft iron. They have latterly become acquainted with fire-arms, and the chiefs have mostly each a firelock of Lama construction.

“With Lama they carry on an annual trade, which apparently takes place on the borders of either country. In this case mishmee-teeta, is the staple article of the Mishmees, and for it they obtain dhaos or straight long swords of excellent metal and often of great length; copper pots of strong, but rough make, flints and steel, or rather steel alone, which are really very neat and good; warm woollen caps, coarse loose parti-colored woollen cloths, huge glass beads, generally white or blue, various kinds of cattle, in which Lama is represented as abounding, and salts. I cannot say whether the Lamas furnish flints with the steel implements for striking light; the stone generally used for this purpose by the Mishmees is the nodular production from Thumathaya,—and this, although rather frangible, answers its purpose very well; with the Singphos they barter elephants’ teeth, (these animals being found in the lower ranges,) for slaves, dhaws, and buffaloes.

“With the Khamtees they appear to have little trade, although there is a route to the proper country of this people along the Ghaloom panee, or Ghaloom Thee of WILCOX’S chart; this route is from the great height of the hills to be crossed, only available during the hot months.

“With the inhabitants of the plains they carry on an annual trade, which is now renewed after an interruption of two years, exchanging cloths, Lama swords, spears, mishmee-teeta, bee, which is in very great request, and gertheana, much esteemed by the natives for its peculiar and rather pleasant smell, for money, (to which they begin to attach great value), cloths, salt and beads: when a sufficient sum of money is procured, they lay it out in buffaloes and the country cattle.”

* * * * *

The following is a list of collections of Plants from the Mishmee Hills to the extreme East, Upper Assam.

Dicotyledones. Dicotyledones.
(Ligulatæ, 9) Ericineæ, 7
Composi- (Cynaraceæ, 4) 89 Verbenaceæ, 8
tæ, (Corymbiferæ, 76) Boragineæ, 2
Labiatæ, 50
Valerianeæ, 1 Gesneriaceæ, 22
Dipsaceæ, 1 Acanthaceæ, 38
Caprifoliaceæ, 6 Scrophularineæ, 19
Rubiaceæ, 42 Solaneæ, 6
Apocyneæ, ) 5 Convolvulaceæ, 8
Asclepiadeæ, ) Primulaceæ, 1
Gentianeæ, 7 Myrsineæ, 19
Oleinæ, 2 Escalloniaceæ? 3
Jasmineæ, 6 Malvaceæ, 6
Campanulaceæ, 7 Cruciferæ, 3
Lobeliaceæ, 7 Polygaleæ, 1
Vacciniaceæ, 2 Violaceæ, 5
Passifloreæ, 1 Begoniaceæ, 6
Modeccoideæ, 1 Umbelliferæ, 4
Samydeæ, 1 Araliaceæ, 12
Ampelideæ, Leea, 6 Rhamneæ, 1
Balsamineæ, 15 Celastrineæ, 9
Sileneæ, 6 Amaranthaceæ, 8
Aurantiaceæ, 5 Polygoneæ, 12
Meliaceæ, 5 Chenopodeæ, 1
Sapindaceæ, 3 Plantagineæ, 1
Acerineæ, 4 Urticeæ, 14
Malpighiaceæ, 3 Ulmaceæ, 1
Hypericineæ, 2 Euphorbiaceæ, 21
Ternstrœmiaceæ, 11 Scepaceæ, 1
Symplocineæ, 3 Stilagineæ, 5
Ebenaceæ, 1 Myriceæ, 1
(Rhus, 5) Juglandeæ, 1
Terebin- (Buchanania, 1) Cupuliferæ, 4
thaceæ, (Phlebochiton, 1) 9 Betulaceæ, 5
(Sabia, 2) Salicineæ, 1
Zanthoxyleæ, 5 Laurineæ, 8
Conareæ, 1 Hamamelideæ, 2
Trygophylleæ, 1 Thymeleæ, 1
Rutaceæ, 2 Santalaceæ, 1
Ranunculaceæ, 4 Loranthaceæ, 2
Fumariaceæ, 2 Proteaceæ, 1
Myristiceæ, 2 Elæagneæ, 1
Anonaceæ, 4 Aristolochiæ, 3
Magnoliaceæ, 1 Combretaceæ, 2
Berberideæ, 1 Chlorantheæ, 1
Lardizabaleæ, 1 Piperaceæ, 14
Menispermeæ, 5 Coniferæ, 1
Rosaceæ, 16 Incertæ, 17
Leguminosæ, 31 Unarranged, 8
Philadelpheæ, 2 Ditto, 14
Saxifrageæ, 3 ---
Melastomaceæ, 9 725
Onagrariæ, 3 ---
Myrtaceæ, 2
Cucurbitaceæ, 6
Monocotyledones Acotyledones
Smilacineæ, 14
Dioscoreæ, 1 Pteris, 21
Peliosantheæ, 5 Blechnum, 1
Tupistraceæ, 2 Dicksonia, 1
Commelineæ, 10 Davallia, 12
Tacceæ, 1 Lindsæa, 2
Aroideæ, 6 Asplenium 27
Scitamineæ, 6 Allantodioides, 6
Orchideæ, 43 Aspidium, 22
Apostaceæ, 1 Nephrodium, 16
Palmæ, 3 Cyatheæ, 7
Cyperaceæ, 22 Trichomanes, 4
Gramineæ, 73 Hymenophyllum, 2
--- Gleichenia, 1
187 Angiopteris, 1
--- Botrychium, 1
Acotyledones Lygodium, 2
Lycopodium, 6
Acrostichum, 12 Tinesipteris 1
Ceterach, 2 Equisetum, 1
Grammitis, 3 ---
Polypodium, 56 224
Pleopeltis, 8 Monocotyledones,187
Niphobolus, 1 Dicotyledones, 725
Cheilanthes, 3 Mosses
unarranged,
about 50
Adiantum, 3 ----
Vittaria, 1 Total, 1186
Lomaria, 1 ----