Indian Antiquary Vol 21

SR No.: 032513
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Richard Carnac Temple
Publisher: Swati Publications
Publication Year: 1984
Total Pages: 430
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 17 MB

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220
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
(JULY, 1892.
Dogs.
villages are deserted, the people living in tem. porary luts in their fields."
Local Products and Industries. The only local producte, besides agricultural, are
(1) Pottory, which is confined to a few villages only, Myaing on the Môn and Myin on the Maung being the foremost in this industry:
(2) The manufacture of daggers, arrow-heads, and spear-heads confined to certain villages :
(3) The production of lac, which is abstracted from troes in most villages and used in the manufacture of accoutremente, &c:
(4) The production of salt. The largest saltsprings are on the Mò at a place called Sanni, six daing" from Tilin, where 200 viss of salt can be produced daily, and there are other springs further up the stream. These are, however, the only springs of importance. A small quantity of salt is procured at a place on the Chèchaung, three dains from Yayin, a Burman village. The salt is produced by boiling down the water:
(5) Spinning, which is done by the women; all the clothes of a purely national character being made by them. The people import most of their cotton, but grow a little :
(6) The minufacture of mats, brooms, baskets, and such like articles; besides bows, arrows, and accoutrements:
(7) Hunting, as a means of filling the pot, though the people collect heads (of animals) and trophies with a thoroughly sportsmanlike interest. They track their game and shoot it with arrows, bringing down tiger, bear, admbhar, pig, &e. They frequently come to grief and get badly mauled, and many are killed by tigers and bears :
(8) Fishing, which is carefully and systemati. cally carried out in various ways;-a) by shooting the fish with arrows, at which the people are wonderfully skilful; (b) by catching the fish in basket traps, in the manner of the Burmans on this frontier; (c) by catching the fish with nets made locally; (d) by diverting a stream and isolating stretches of it with dams, and then poisoning the fish with the bark of a certain tree, which is stripped off, pounded, and thrown into the water prepared as above.
Forests.-The lower slopes on the Burmese side of the Chin Hills contain some fine teak, especially near the mouths of the Yd, Maung, and Chè streams. Bamboos are plentiful throughout the hills. On the higher slopes are fine fir foreste, oaks of various kinds, rhododendrons, and so on.
12 [A Shân custom also. -Ed.).
Dwarf bamboos, making excellent fodder, were constantly met with, even at heights over 7,000 feet above sea level. There is some cutch on the lower slopes on the Burmese side.
Flora and Fauna.-On the lower slopes the usual flowers and vegetation seen in Burma are met with. Higher up flowers and plants of a colder climate are seen, including orchide, ferns, roses, lawn daisies, marguerites, thistles, mosses; also a shrub with a flower likę hawthorn. The wild animals are :Tigers.
Hare. Bears.
Porcupine. Leopards.
Otter. Pigs.
Wild cats. Deer of many kinds. Jungle fowl. Wild cattle (sain Pheasants(silver). and pyaring).
Partridge. Monkeys.
Many kinds of Apes (Hoolocks).
small birds. The domestic animals are :
Maiban. Pigs.
Fowl.
Goats. All are used for food and sacrifices, and for marriage gifts.
Housos.-The houses resemble those of Burmans, except that they are stronger and better built; the thatch on the roofs being often a foot thick, well put on, and firinly tied down. The foors are frequently of teak or fir planks hewn out of a single tree. The floors are raised three to six feet from the ground. Pigs, gonte, dogs, and fowls lire underneath and all round, and the houses, though otherwise clean, are full of fleas. The fireplaces are similar to those in Burman houses.
During the cultivating season the villages are abandoned and temporary huts are built in the abandoned and tempo fields, as well as sheds for storing grain. To prevent rats from getting into the latter they are ruised six feet or more off the ground, and branches of fir, stalk-ends uppermost, are tied to the posts, because rats cannot run up them. Flat circular boards are also used for the purpose of preventing rats from running up a post, the post passing through a hole in the centre.
Engineering Works.-There are no engineering works on a large scale.
Fishing dams are constructed to isolate reaches of streams in order to catch or poison the fish, or to divert the stream.
13 dainks about 2 miles.