16
have move intellectual features. The Oraons are
generally a dark-complexioned, short, thick-set race,
with round, good-humoured faces of rather a lower
type; but neither are wanting in intelligence. The
Oraons are the more industrious and energetic; and
it is generally people of their tribe that, under the
denomination Dhangur, are employed on great works
in all parts of India and in the colonies.
No. 97. The Korewahs.
The Korewahs are a very wild tribe, oecupying a
portion of the water-shed of Central India, near the
sources of the Soane and its tributaries, the sources
of the Nurbudda, and the sources of the Eeb and
other tributaries of the Mahanuddee. The language
spoken by the Korewahs shows at once that they are
near of kin to the Sonthals and Moondahs, or Coles
of Chota Nagpore and Singbhoom; and, like their
kindred raees, they are greatly devoted to songs and
dances. In customs there appears but little difference
between them and the Moondahs, but those of the
Korewahs, from their isolation, are uneertain. They
burn their dead, or bury them, as they find most
convenient, but the practice of marking the spot
where the body or ashes have been deposited, by a
large flat stone, is common to them and the
Moondahs.
No. 98. Oraon Cole Female, Chota Nag-
poor.
No. 99. Moonda Female, Chota Nagpoor.
No. 100. Eajbansi.
Rajbunsi, or Rajbansi, is the modern name of a
people of Kooch-Behar, originally belonging to the
great Kooch tribe. In course of time, the mass of
the Kooch people became Mahomedans, and the
higher grades Hindus; both style themselves Raj-
bansis ; a remnant only endure the name of Kooch,
and of these but a portion adheres to the language,
creed, and customs of their forefathers.
b.—Assam.
No. 101. Sonai, Assam.
No. 102. Moamurias or Muttucks.
The Muttucks are a tribe settled in a district called
Mooran or Muttuck. After the conquest of Assam
by the British Government, the chief of the Muttucks
and his family were induced to abandon the state
of semi-independence in whieh they had previously
existed, and were pensioned off. Since that period,
the Muttucks have diligently pursued their favourite
occupations of husbandry. The tea plant is indige-
nous in the Muttock territory.
No. 103. Meeree, or Miri.
The Meerees inhabit the northern part of Assam,
and are of Indo-Chinese origin ; as is indicated both
by their features and by the monosyllabic character
of their language.
No. 104. Singphos.
The Singphos are by far the most powerful and
formidable of all the lull tribes on the northern
frontier of Assam; they are also the most numerous.
and scattered over the widest extent of country.
They are divided into twelve tribes, and have four
castes, named Thengai, Myung, Lubrung, and Mirup.
They are believed not to be a braneh of the Shan
tribes, but of Indo-Chinese origin, and their own
traditions point to the confines of Tibet as their
original location. Their language, whieh is mono
syllabic, is unwritten: its intonations are very similar
to the Burmese, and its grammatical construction
almost the same.
The houses of the Singphos are generally nothing
but long sheds, roofed in with grass or bamboo
leaves, and the walls composed of split bamboo.
The floor of the dwelling part is raised about four
feet from the ground, and the entrance forms an
extensive poreh, in whieh are congregated pigs,
fowls, household and agricultural implements, and
where women may generally be seen pounding rice.
These buildings are sometimes one hundred feet
long, and are divided into compartments, allotted to
several families. Occasionally immense houses may
seen, whieh are occupied by powerful chiefs, the
timbers of these buildings being of such enormous size
and length as to render it a matter of surprise that
they eould have been erected by mere manual labour.
C.—SlKHIM.
Nos. 105-106. Lepchas.
The “ Lepchas,” so called by us, and indeed by
themselves in convcrsation with strangers, are divided
into two raees; viz., “ Rong ” and “Khamba.”
Thus Lepchas are found among the subjects of
eastern Nipal, throughout the whole of Sikhim, and
extend to an unknown distance into Bhootan. The
Ilindoo restrictions as to caste are not admitted by
the Lepchas, although those who live under the
Nipal govemment are obliged to conform to the
Ilindoo laws of that state. They are gross feeders,
eating all kinds of animal food, including the
elephant, rhinoceros, and monkey, and all grains
and vegetables known to us, with the addition of
many roots and plants altogether excluded from
our culinary lists. Pork is their favourite meat;
next to that, beef, goat, and mutton. The yak is
considered the best beef; next to that, the flesh of
the Sikhim cow (afine animal); and last, the Bengali
and common cow. Their common drink is a kind
of beer made from the fermented infusion of Indian
corn and murwa, whieh is weak, but agreeably acid,
and very refreshing. They do not form permanent
villages, and rarely remain longer than three years
in one place, at the expiration of whieh they move
into the new part of the forest, sometimes near, often
distant, and there go through the labour of Clearing