e, of the same description as
above. These cannons were captured from the Jaintia Raja by the Siem
of Nongkrem. No specimens of the cannon ball used are unfortunately
available. There are also small mortars, specimens of which are to
be seen in the house of the Siem of Mylliem.

The weapons of the Syntengs are the same as those of the Khasis,
although some of them are called by different names. At Nartiang I saw
an old Khasi gun, which the people say was fired from the shoulder. I
also saw a mortar of the same pattern as the one described amongst
the Khasi weapons.

The War and Lynngam weapons are also the same, but with different
names. The only weapons used by the Bhois (Mikirs) are the spear
and bill-hook for cutting down jungle. Butler, writing of the
Mikirs 1854, says, "Unlike any other hill tribes of whom we have
any knowledge, the Mikirs seem devoid of anything approaching to a
martial spirit. They are a quiet, industrious, race of cultivators,
and the only weapons used by them are the spear and _da_ hand-bill
for cutting down jungle. It is said, after an attempt to revolt from
the Assamese rule, they were made to forswear the use of arms, which
is the cause of the present generation having no predilection for war."

CHAPTER II

Domestic Life

Occupation.

The greater proportion of the population subsists by
cultivation. Cultivation of rice may be divided under two headings,
high land or dry cultivation and low land or wet cultivation. The
total number of persons who subsist by agriculture generally in the
hills, is given is the last Census Report as 154,907, but the term
agriculture includes the cultivation of the potato, the orange,
betel-nut and _pan_. A full description of the different forms
of agriculture will be given under the heading "Agriculture." A
considerable number of Khasis earn their livelihood as porters,
carrying potatoes to the markets on the Sylhet side of the district,
from whence the crop is conveyed by means of country boats to the
different places of call of river-steamers in the Surma Valley,
the steamers carrying the potatoes to Calcutta. Potatoes are also
largely carried to Shillong by porters, where the tuber is readily
bought by Marwari merchants, who load it in carts to be conveyed by
road to Gauhati, from which station it is again shipped to Calcutta
and Upper Assam. Many persons are also employed in carrying rice
up the hill from Theria to Cherrapunji, Shillong, an