Major John Butler

“ They, however, live most secludedly from their neighbours, retaining their own habits and customs; and it is to be feared that a long period of time will elapse before they amalgamate or assimilate themselves with the Assamese population. Eventually, should the whole body of this discontented, restless, intriguing tribe return to their allegiance under the British Government, their past history would not warrant the most sanguine mind to expect from them, permanently, either a cheerful submission to our rule or a readiness to pay revenue, without an exhibition of force. ”

“ The death of the victim is hailed with dance and song, and the liveliest demonstrations of joy: even the old men, women, and children seem in raptures at the announcement of the joyful tidings that their tribe has succeeded in taking revenge. ”

“ The virtues of the deceased are frequently rehearsed; the heirs and relatives throw themselves on the earth, and make great lamentations for many months after the death has occurred. At the expiration of the period of mourning, a great feast of liquor, rice, buffaloes’ and cows’ flesh is prepared by the survivors; and an immense number of people, armed with their swords and spears, and dressed in the most fantastical garb, as if preparing for a war expedition, are assembled to partake of it. ”

“ The flesh of the crocodile is like that of fish, emitting the same odour, and partaking of the flavour of the coarsest of the finny tribe. After skinning a small crocodile caught by a fisherman in his net, one of my native servants made a curry of the flesh, which is consumed by some low caste men in Assam, as well as in Western India. The eggs of crocodiles and river turtle are esteemed delicacies. ”

“ In many parts of the province, coal of a good quality, is found; and indeed the soil of Assam generally may be considered extremely rich: it abounds in valuable products, such as rice, sugar-cane, moongah silk, pepper, mustard-seed, and cotton. But the bounty of nature is marred by the indolence and apathy of man: the cultivator seldom looks beyond his immediate wants, and makes no attempt to improve his condition. ”

“ The elephant, if well trained, on being charged by a buffalo, merely turns round and presents his stern to the repeated blows of the infuriated monster: screaming out, however, in the utmost fright until the buffalo is shot or scared off by the firing; but a timid or badly trained elephant, on being charged instantly seeks safety in flight, to the imminent peril of the sportsman, should any trees happen to come in contact with the howdah. ”

“ Daily may the cattle be seen swimming across these street-streams in search of a dry spot of land on which to graze. In this manner, for four months of each year—June, July, August, and September—are the people surrounded by floods; but, as if endowed with amphibious natures, they seem equally happy in or out of the water, and pass their time on board their boats in trading with other villages throughout Assam. ”

“ Regimental duty amongst our earliest military companions has its charms, but there is not an officer in the East India Company’s service, be his attachment to his comrades and the sepoys under him ever so strong, who does not hail with joy the day that gives him comparative [2] freedom, especially when that freedom is accompanied by the proud emotions ever attendant upon the possession of higher command. ”

“ After a short conversation the Taggee Rajah—as a signal understood by the Akhas, drew his sword and inflicted a wound on the havildar’s left leg. Nazim Rajah then cut down the Naick with his own hand, and the whole of the Akhas instantly rushed on the havildar, entered the stockade, and murdered every person they could seize; slaughtering in all sixteen persons: the havildar, naick and four sipahees, and the wives and families of the Goorkha sipahees. ”

“ On their arrival at the tea-plantations, in the midst of high and dense tree jungle, numbers absconded, and others met an untimely end. The rice served out to the Coolies from the Assam Tea Company’s store rooms, was so bad as not to be fit to be given to elephants, much less to human beings. The loss of these labourers, who had been conveyed to Upper Assam at a great expense, deprived the company of the means of cultivating so great an extent of country as would otherwise have been ensured; for the scanty population of Upper Assam offered no means of replacing the deficiency of hands. ”

“ But were it otherwise, the sum yearly expended in excess of the net revenue for the management of Assam, it must be borne in mind, is not thrown away, for Assam forms the best frontier protection for Bengal that could be desired; and if troops were not located in that province, a force would be required on the north eastern frontier, involving much heavier expense than the Local Corps of Assam. Every endeavour, therefore, to promote the advancement and civilization of the people of Assam must be hailed as a favourable omen of future prosperity. ”

“ The purpose is never relinquished, though its execution may unavoidably be tardy: by day and night they lie in ambush in the jungle, or on the plains near the roads, till they can pounce upon some unwary individual of the enemy. His murder is then communicated to his friends in a singular way. Forty or fifty Nagas, armed with wooden clubs, strike a large hollow piece of wood called a tomkhong, from which a loud, terrific sound proceeds, which gives token to the enemy that one of their tribe has died in acquittance of the debt of revenge. ”

“ To enumerate the several petty robberies, disturbances, and murders committed at different times by these wild mountaineers, would, at the present day, be neither interesting nor profitable: it will suffice to remark that the people are all disunited, living under independent chiefs with separate interests, and have never leagued together in large bodies to ravage the plains for plunder or the [213] capture of slaves. No union seems to prevail amongst them as with the Singphoos, Abors, and Khamtees; their irruptions and depredations, therefore, are always on a small scale. ”

“ The proprietors of slaves and bondsmen consist of the most respectable men in Assam, and of course are strenuous supporters of the continuation of the lucrative and nefarious traffic in their fellow-creatures. To deprive them of their proprietary right to their slaves it has been urged would be unjust, and offensive to their usages; and, following the example of the West India proprietors, they contend that the slaves being their lawful property as much as houses, grain, or cattle, compensation should be made by Government for the release of every man from bondage. ”

“ Government have established no regulations against the growth of opium in Assam, neither do they derive any greater revenue from its cultivation than is yielded them by other lands. It cannot be doubted that, if a heavy tax were levied on every acre of land producing opium, and a high duty imposed on its sale, it would be beyond the means of the people to purchase and consume such quantities of the drug, as is now the practice of men, women, and even children. ”

“ If any person is detected in committing the offence no mercy is shown: the Khonbao pronounces sentence of decapitation without a moment’s hesitation. The Nagas are remarkable for simplicity, candour, and integrity; even the comparatively small vice of lying, to which the natives of British India are so seriously and universally addicted, is unknown among them, and will probably continue so until they have been corrupted by their more enlightened neighbours, the Assamese, or by the advance of civilization, refined arts, and manners. ”

“ The interpreter, Bhog Chund, who accompanied the party, entreated the Khetrees to remain quiet in their village, and to listen to terms of peace; but they indignantly rejected the offer, and threw down stones, and discharged a volley of spears, upon the advancing embassy. This being returned by a few rounds of musketry in self-defence, the Khetrees fled from their village to the neighbouring inaccessible hill fastnesses. The Namsangea and Bordoareah Nagas perceiving this, instantly rushed into the deserted village, slaughtered all the cows, pigs, and fowls, and burnt every house to the ground. ”

“ Casualties that occur from the contentions of one tribe with another, murders resulting from private jealousy, the difficulty of procuring food, and exposure to the inclemency of the weather, help to keep the population scanty all over the north-east frontier. In fact, the great cause of the thinness of the population is the want of food, arising from the absence of productive industry. The unsettled and lawless state of society among the Burmese and Singphoos appears likewise to operate in retarding the extension of trade ”

“ Many parts of the division are so inimical to life, that the mortality both of Europeans and natives, equals, if it does not exceed, that in any district in Assam. The noxious exhalations from the Garrow hills and woods seem more deadly than the climate of the Northern Dooars, of which few persons resident there can long resist the depressing effects. Unless endowed with great stamina, life is here frequently extinguished by jungle fever in the course of a few days. ”

“ Each tribe seems ever jealous of its neighbour; and cruel hostilities, ending in the most tragical manner—even to the extermination of a tribe and the total destruction of its cattle, stores, and property—are often the result of their mutual animosity. The form of the Naga government is democratical; each clan seems to be ruled by a president and two subordinates or deputies, who form the executive. The president is called Khonbao, and the deputies Sundekae and Khonsae: the one prime minister, and the latter a chief over twenty houses. ”

“ The greater portion of the Assamese are Hindoos; but they are very lax in their observance of the rites of the Hindoo religion, and in the few ceremonies which they do perform, deviate considerably from the strict tenets enjoined by that creed. In their domestic habits they are simple in the extreme; their poverty and ignorance limiting their desires within the narrowest compass. A slight cotton covering thrown over the shoulders, and a dhoti or sheet tied round the waist, reaching to the knees, forms the chief clothing of the poor: shoes are never worn. ”

“ The British Government have hitherto, from prudential motives, abstained from giving offence to or exciting the jealousy of the Chinese, by permitting any of our officers to attempt to enter Thibet from the extreme north-eastern quarter of the valley of Assam. This is a sacrifice of geographical knowledge to policy; for there can be no question that a scientific traveller would obtain much information respecting the character of the country, and bring us acquainted with a people at present unknown to the civilized world. ”

“ Chittagong elephants are considered very superior to those caught in Assam, the former being stout, strong, short-legged beasts, and the latter lanky and weak; but whether the prejudice be just, may be doubted, as there are many noble elephants in Assam that would prove most serviceable in any part of India, and the prices they would fetch amply repay any charge incurred by Government for an elephant-hunting establishment in Assam. ”

“ After the land has been thus impoverished, it is allowed to remain fallow for three years; and fresh jungle land is burnt and prepared in the same primitive way, and with the most simple implements of husbandry. In other parts of Assam extensive tracts of land are beautifully cultivated, and pretty villages are numerously studded over the country; but, although lakes and streams are everywhere to be met with, no attempt is made by the Assamese tribes, excepting the Cacharries, to irrigate the land, and thus render the crops more certain and productive. ”

“ The religion of the Singphoos appears to be a mixture of all the various idolatries and superstitions of the natives with whom they have intercourse. They seem to have no fixed principles common to the whole tribe. Their ostensible worship is that of Guduma, whose temples and priests are to be found in all their principal villages. They are also in the habit of deifying any Singphoos who may chance to be killed in action during a foray upon some other tribe or village, and of sacrificing to [82] them as to their penates. ”

“ Being a rude, treacherous people, little faith can be placed in them; neither can we expect they will be influenced or bound by any treaties not in accordance with their own views: in fact they have in no respect fulfilled their obligations to the British Government.
The Singphoo country is eminently unfavourable to the operations of regular troops, owing to its mountainous character, unrelieved by plains or table lands, the want of roads, the extreme scarcity of provisions, the absence of local means of transport, and above all the unhealthiness of the climate. ”