hich
grows in the gardens round the homesteads. The leaves are dried,
then reduced to powder, mixed with hot water, and the skeins of
thread are steeped in the liquid. The colour is permanent. The red
dye is obtained from the mixture of the dry bark of two shrubs,
_ka lapyndong_ (_symplocos racemosa_, Roxb.), and _ka 'larnong_
(_morinda-tinctoria_, Roxb.), the latter being the same as the Assamese
(aacukaa.th) _achukath_. The bark is dried, then pounded, and the two
sorts are mixed together and made into a paste with hot water. The
skeins are steeped in this mixture for twenty-four hours, then taken
out and divided, and again steeped for another twenty-four hours. The
Lalungs and Bhois and Lynngams all weave cotton cloths, which are
generally dyed blue, sometimes striped blue and red. The Wars weave
cotton cloths which are dyed red and yellow, the cloths being woven in
checks. Mr. Darrah remarks that the cotton grown in the Jaintia Hills
is said to be the best cotton produced in the province. Its thread
can be more closely woven than that of other kinds. This statement,
however, is not borne out by Mr. Allen, writing in 1858, who says
that the cotton is of inferior quality, the staple being short and
woolly. The cotton cloths woven by the Bhois are called _spua_.

Pottery.

The Census Report of 1901 gave the number of persons who are supported
by the manufacture of pottery at 54 only. Pottery is manufactured
at one place only in the Jaintia Hills, Larnai. The Larnai potters
make many of the earthen pots to be found in the Khasi houses called
_khiew ranei_, or sometimes _khiew Larnai_. Mr. Gait says, "These
potters use two kinds of clay mixed; one is of a dark blue colour,
_'dew-iong_, and the other of a greyish colour, _'dew khluid_. These
clays seem to correspond closely with the _kumar mati_ and _hira mati_
of the Brahmaputra Valley."

The clay at Larnai is well beaten out upon a hide, or upon a flat
disc of wood; the women fashion the pots by hand, they do not use
the potter's wheel. The pots are sun-dried and then fired. They are
painted black with an infusion of a bark called _sohliya_. The Larnai
potters also make flower-pots which are sold in Shillong at from 2
annas to 4 annas each, the price of the ordinary pot or _khiew ranei_
varying from 2 pice to 4 annas each. A water-pot (_khiew um_) is
also fashioned, which is sometimes used in the manufacture of liquor,
price 4 annas to 6 annas each.

CHAPT