were brought into sanguinary collision with the
Khasias, who fought bravely with bows and arrows,
displaying a most blood-thirsty and cruel disposition.
This is indeed natural to th em ; and murders continued
very frequent as preludes to the most trifling
robberies, until the extreme penalty of our law was
put in force. Even now, some of the tributary Rajahs
are far from quiet under our rule, and various parts of
the country are not safe to travel in. The Garrows,
who occupy the western extremity of this range, at the
bend of the Burrampooter, are still in a savage state.
Human sacrifices and polyandry are said to be frequent
amongst them, and their orgies are detestable. Happily
we are hardly ever brought into collision with them,
except by their occasional depredations on the Assam
and Khasia frontier: their country is very unhealthy,
but is said to contain abundance of coal, iron, and lime.
We seldom employed fewer than twelve or fourteen
of the natives as collectors; and when travelling, from
thirty to forty as coolies, &c. They are averse to
rising early, and are intolerably filthy in their persons,
though not so in their cottages, which are very poor,
with broad grass roofs reaching nearly to the ground,
and usually encircled by bamboo fences; the latter
custom is not common in savage communities, and
perhaps indicates a dread of treachery. The beams
are of hewn wood (they do not use saws,) often neatly
carved, and the doors turn on good wooden pivots.
They have no windows, and the fire is made on the
floor : the utensils, &c. are placed on hanging shelves
and in baskets.
The Khasia people are of the Indo-Chinese ra c e ;
they are short, very stout, and muscular, with enormous
calves and knees, rather narrow eyes and little beard,
broad, high cheekbones, flat noses, and open nostrils.
I believe that a few are tattooed. The hair is gathered
into a top knot, and sometimes shaved off the forehead
and temples. A loose cotton shirt, often striped
blue and red, without sleeves, and bordered with long
thread fringes, is their principal garment; people of
rank wear it gathered into a girdle of silver chains. A
cotton robe is sometimes added, with a large cotton
turban or small skull cap. The women wear a long
cloth tied in a knot across the breast. During festivals
both men and women load themselves with silk robes,
fans, peacocks’ feathers, and gold and silver ornaments
of great value, procured from Assam, many of which
are said to be extremely curious, but I never saw any
of them. On these occasions spirits are drunk, and
dancing kept up all n ig h t: the dance is described as
a slow ungraceful motion, the women being tightly
swathed in cloths.
All their materials are brought from Assam; the
only articles in constant use, of their own manufacture,
being a rude sword or knife with a wooden
handle and a long, narrow, straight blade of iro n ; and
the baskets with headstraps, like those used by the
Lepchas, but much neater; also a netted bag of pineapple
fibre (said to come from Silhet) which holds a
clasp-knife, comb, flint, steel, and betel-nut box. They
are much addicted to chewing pawn (betel nut, pepper
leaves, and lime) all day long, and their red saliva