ng may have taken the
place of the Khasi human sacrifices to the _thlen_?

Notwithstanding that Sir George Scott says the story has very Burman
characteristics, the Palaung folk-tale is further interesting in
that it speaks of the Sawbwa of the Palaungs being descended from a
_princess_. This might be a suggestion of the matriarchate.

It can well be imagined how important a matter it is also, in the light
of Grierson's and Kuhn's linguistic conclusions, to ascertain whether
any of the Mon-Khmer people in Anam and Cambodia and neighbouring
countries possess social customs in common with the Khasis. In case
it may be possible for French and Siamese ethnologists in Further
India to follow up these inquiries at some subsequent date, it may
be stated that information regarding social customs is required with
reference to the people who speak the following languages in Anam and
Cambodia and Cochin China which belong to the Mon-Khmer group--_Suk,
Stieng, Bahnar, Anamese, Khamen-Boran, Xong, Samre, Khmu_, and _Lamet_.

Notwithstanding our failure up till now to find any patent and direct
social customs in common between the Khasis and the Palaungs, I am
in hopes that we may yet discover some such affinities. Mr. Lowis,
the Superintendent of Ethnography in Burma, states that there is no
vestige of the matriarchal system among the Palaungs; but there is the
folk-tale I have quoted above. In matters of succession, inheritance,
&c., the Palaungs, Mr. Lowis, says, profess to follow the Shans,
whose customs in this regard have a Buddhistic basis. The Palaungs are
devout Buddhists, and, like the Burmans and Shans, bury their lay dead,
whereas the Khasis invariably burn. There is nothing in the shape
of memorial stones amongst the Palaungs. _Prima facie_ these appear
to be points of differentiation between the Palaungs and the Khasis;
but they should not, as has already been stated, be regarded as proof
positive that the tribes are not connected, and it is possible that
under the influence of Buddhism the Palaungs may have almost entirely
abandoned their ancient customs, like the Christian Khasis.

Having noticed some similarities as regards birth customs, as
described in Dr. Frazer's "Golden Bough," between the Khasis and
certain inhabitants of the Dutch East Indies, I wrote to the Dutch
authorities in Batavia requesting certain further information. My
application was treated with the greatest courtesy, and I am indebted
to the k