omplaint is made before the Siem or chief,
against a certain party or parties. The facts and circumstances
of the ease, are then detailed before the chief and his headmen,
the ostensible object being to attempt to bring about a compromise
between the parties. If no reconciliation can be effected, a crier
(_u nong pyrta shnong_), or in the Jaintia Hills a _sangot_, is
sent out to proclaim at the top of his voice the durbar which is to
assemble the following evening. He proceeds to cry the durbar in the
evening when all the inhabitants have returned to the village from
their usual daily pursuits. With a loud premonitory yell the crier
makes use of the following formula [24]:--

"_Kaw!_ thou, a fellow-villager; thou, a fellow-creature; thou, an
old man; thou, who art grown up; thou, who art young; thou, a boy;
thou, a child; thou, an infant; thou; who art little; thou, who art
great. _Hei!_ because there is a contest. _Hei!_ for to cause to
sit together. _Hei!_ for to cause to deliberate. _Hei!_ for to give
intelligence together. _Hei!_ about to assemble in durbar. _Hei!_
for to listen attentively. _Hei!_ ye are forbidden. _Hei!_ ye
are stopped to draw water then, not to cut firewood then; _Hei!_
to go as coolies then; _Hei!_ to go to work then; _Hei!_ to go a
journey then; _Hei!_ to descend to the valley then; _Hei!_ he who
has a pouch. _Hei!_ he who has a bag. _Hei!_ now come forth. _Hei!_
now appear. _Hei!_ the hearing then is to be all in company. _Hei!_
the listening attentively then is to be all together. _Hei!_ for his
own king. _Hei!_ for his own lord, lest destruction has come; lest
wearing away has overtaken _us_. _Kaw!_ come forth now fellow mates."

This proclamation is called _khang shnong_, and by it all are stopped
from going anywhere from the village the following day. Anybody who
disregards the prohibition is liable to fine. The following day,
towards evening, all the grown-up males of the village assemble at
the durbar ground, the site of which is marked in some villages by
rows of flat stones, arranged in an irregular circle, upon which the
durbaris sit. The proceedings are opened by one of the headmen, who
makes a long speech; then others follow, touching upon all sorts of
irrelevant matters, but throwing out hints, now and then, bearing on
the subject of accusation. By degrees the debate waxes warmer, and the
parties get nearer the point. Then the complainant and the defendant
each of them throw down