othed with forests containing
red tree-rhododendrons and oaks. Hooker says that on its skirts grows
a "white bushy rhododendron" which he found nowhere else. There is,
however, a specimen of it now in the Shillong Lake garden. Numerous
orchids are to be found in the Kyllang wood, notably a beautiful white
one, called by the Khasis _u'tiw kyllang synrai_, which blooms in the
autumn. The view from the top of the rock is very extensive, especially
towards the north, where a magnificent panorama of the Himalayas is
obtained in the autumn. The most remarkable phenomenon of any kind in
the country is undoubtedly the enormous quantity of rain which falls
at Cherrapunji. [12] Practically the whole of the rainfall occurs in
the rains, i.e. from May to October. The remainder of the district is
less rainy. The climate of the central plateau of the Shillong range
is very salubrious, but the low hills in parts of the district are
malarious. The effect of the different climates can at once be seen
by examining the physique of the inhabitants. The Khasis who live
in the high central plateaux are exceptionally healthy and strong,
but those who live in the unhealthy "Bhoi country" to the north, and
in the Lynngam portion to the west of the district, are often stunted
and sickly. Not so, however, the Wars who live on the southern slopes,
for although their country is very hot at certain times of the year, it
does not appear to be abnormally unhealthy except in certain villages,
such as Shella, Borpunji, Umniuh, and in Narpuh in the Jaintia Hills.

Origin.

The origin of the Khasis is a very vexed question. Although it is
probable that the Khasis have inhabited their present abode for at
any rate a considerable period, there seems to be a fairly general
belief amongst them that they originally came from elsewhere. The
Rev. H. Roberts, in the introduction to his Khasi Grammar, states that
"tradition, such as it is, connects them politically with the Burmese,
to whose king they were up to a comparatively recent date rendering
homage, by sending him an annual tribute in the shape of an axe,
as an emblem merely of submission." Another tradition points out the
north as the direction from which they migrated, and Sylhet as the
terminus of their wanderings, from which they were ultimately driven
back into their present hill fastnesses by a great flood, after a
more or less peaceful occupation of that district. It was on the
occasion of this