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Volltext: A classified and descriptive catalogue of the Indian department, Vienna Universal Exhibition 1873

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
	        
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