bors.

3. _The Mikir._--Mr. Robertson looks upon these as an intrusive people
from the Jaintia hills: their present locality being the district of
Nowgong, where they are mixed up with--

4. _The Lalong._--I cannot say whether the Lalong speak their originally
monosyllabic tongue, or have learnt the Bengali--a phenomenon which does
much to disguise the true ethnology of more than one of the forthcoming
tribes; one of which is certainly--

5. _The Dhekra_, occupants of Lower Assam and Kamrup, where they are
mixed up with other sections of the population.

6. _The Rabha._--Like the Dhekra, these are Hindus. Like the Dhekra
they speak Bengali. Hence, like the Dhekra, their true affinities are
disguised. It is, however, pretty generally admitted by the best
authorities that what may be predicated of the Garo and Bodo--two
families of which a fuller notice will be given in the sequel--may be
predicated of the sections in question, as also of--

7. _The Hajong_ or _Hojai_.--Hindus, speaking a form of the Bengali at
the foot of the Garo hills; and who join the Rabha, whose locality is
between Gwahatti and Sylhet, _i.e._, at the entrance of the Assam
valley.

The _Garo_ of the Garo hills to the north-east of Bengal now require
notice. A mountaineer of these parts has much in common with the Coosya;
yet the languages are, _perhaps_, mutually unintelligible. In form they
are exceedingly alike.

Now, a Garo[29] is hardy, stout, and surly-looking, with a flattened
nose, blue or brown eyes, large mouth, thick lips, round face, and brown
complexion. Their _buniahs_ (_booneeahs_) or chiefs, are distinguished
by a silken turban. They have a prejudice against milk; but in the
matter of other sorts of food are omnivorous. Their houses, called
_chaungs_, are built on piles, from three to four feet from the ground,
from ten to forty in breadth, and from thirty to one hundred and fifty
in length. They drink, feast, and dance freely; and, in their
matrimonial forms, much resemble the Bodo. The youngest daughter
inherits. The widow marries the brother of the deceased; if he die, the
next; if all, the father.

The dead are kept for four days; then burnt. Then the ashes are buried
in a hole on the place where the fire was. A small thatched building is
next raised over them; which is afterwards railed in. For a month, or
more, a lamp is lit every night in this building. The clothes of the
deceased hang on poles--one at each corner of t