CHAPTER II

DOMESTIC LIFE

THE entire population may be classed as agriculturists, i. Occu-
as only a few people, as will be afterwards described, HvepatlOTK
on contributions of rice given them in exchange for services
rendered to the community. There are no shop-keepers, and,
except the blacksmith, no craftsmen, each household being
capable of existing on its own labours. The men build the
house and cut the jhum, they help in the weeding and
harvesting, and procure fresh meat by their skill in setting
snares and hunting. Periodically they visit the nearest bazar,
often a journey of several days, to purchase salt and the few
requisites that their own industry cannot produce, consisting
chiefly of brass cooking pots, iron to be made into daos or
finished daos. Nowadays, it is true, the wants of the people
are slowly increasing, and looking-glasses, umbrellas, needles,
and Manchester goods are finding their way into the most
remote villages. The woi&en folk fetch the wood and water,
cook the food and do the greatest part of the weeding and
harvesting; they also make all the clothing for the whole holise-
hold from cotton grown in the jhums, which they themselves
gather^ clean, spin, and weave into strong cloth.

A Lushai woman has to rise early, fill her basket with empty
bamboo tubes, and trudge off before daylight down to the
spring, which is generally some way down the hill, and the
supply of water is frequently so scanty that it takes her some
time to fill hei: bambbos. Having conveyed her basketful to
the house, she has to set to work cleaning the rice for the day.
The necessary amount of unhusked rice has been dried the

17 C