My Experiences in Manipur and the Naga HillsJohnstone, James, Sir
History
My Experiences in Manipur and the Naga Hills
Johnstone, James, Sir
Manipur (India) -- Description and travel; Naga Hills (India) -- Description and travel
On January 28th we reached Jessami, a fine village of the Sozai tribe;
they much resembled the Mao people. They crowded round us and were
much pleased when we showed them our watches, and allowed them to feel
our boots and socks. Some of the houses were large and well stocked
with rice. One old man took us into his house and showed us a shield
carefully wrapped up in cloth that bore the tokens of his having slain
fifteen people. The village contained no skulls, and our friends told
us that they obeyed orders and killed no one. We enquired about the
snowy peak of Saramettie, which was visible from some point not far
distant, but the people assured us that they had never heard of it.
On the 29th, some Metomi men came in with a young man who acted
as interpreter, he having been captured, and then kept as a guest
in Manipur for some time, to learn the language, by Bularam Singh,
who was the Minister accompanying me. He seemed quite pleased to see
his old host. The Metomi people were a strange set, quite naked,
except for a cloth over the shoulders in cold weather. They are
slighter built than the Angamis and Tankhools. They could count up
to one hundred, and three of their numerals, four, six and seven,
are the same as in the Manipuri language. They wear their hair cut
across the forehead like some of the tribes in Assam. Their patterns
of weaving rather resembled those of the Abors and Kasias, but were
finer. They wore ear-rings of brass wire very cleverly made, the wire
being imported through other tribes.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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