Wild Races of South-Eastern India

Rising from the rice swamps and level land of Chittagong District, now in Bangladesh, there stretches out a vast extent of hilly and mountainous country inhabited by various hill tribes. The author discusses the cli­mate, the bazars where they bartered their produce for such items as salt, spices, dried fish, etc., found only in plains, the flora and fauna, especially descriptions of valuable forest trees, medicinal plants, varieties of bamboos and canes, their mode of cultivation (jhum cultivation, which is a form of slash and burn agriculture), and com­munity life. It also contains descriptions of the British interaction with the hill tribes, their exploitation by the Hindu mahajans, the origin of the tribes living there, believed to be of Burmese extraction, their habits, customs, religion, festivals, attire, marriage ceremony, social habits and language. The author fondly describes them as lovable, simple, honest who do not believe in the accumulation of wealth and believe in perfect social?equality.