The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-08-28
Delhi. 1910. |

r India people of whom the would
l. knows nothing and countries
which the foot of white man has never
| trod"
These were the words of Mr.. Robertson,
secretary of commerce and indust in
the viceroys cabinet. We were sitting
together in his office In Calcutta, and
had been chatting about the extension of
the railways, telegraphs and postoffices
of the Indian empire. The secretary con-
tinuer:
Take the Brahmaputra, that mighty
river which empties into the Gauges near
where it flows into the Bay of Bengal 1t
is only lately that we have learned any
thing about its source, and today there
is region along It's banks of which we
know nothing. The country there is a
very no mans land. 1t Is inhabited by
half-naked savages who are professional
head hunters. They use poisoned arrows,
and we pay them tribute for letting us
alone. We have never attempted to
conquer them"
India's No Mans Land
| But Just where is this territory?'
asked
ut lies near the northern borders of
Assam in the foot hills of the Himalayas
1t is not far from the tea districts, and
there are tea factories with their electric
| lights and modern machinery upon It's
very edge. You may travel 10 miles
| from such surroundings and reach local
tiles where your life is not safe for a
moment. The country is wild and rugged,
and the land drops almost precipitously
| from an altitude of two miles above the
sea down to a thousand feet or SO. The
| descent of the Brahmaputra at that point
| Is such that we believe there must be
great falls there. We may have hidden
| in those jungles second Niagara or
| Zambesi Falls. But no one knows, for,
SO far, no one has explored that part OF
| the river
And you say that the mighty British
nation pays tribute to these savages?
That is an odd policy for the strongest
of the European powers, Is 1t notf
The cabinet minister swallowed the
! nattery without winSing. He repliad;
THE amount of the tribute is moth
| ing. We pay 1T because 1t Is cheaper
to pay than to fight We began 1t
when we took possession of the coun-
try. At that time these savages were
making periodical raids upon the VII
lagos of the lowlands. They would
| swoop down from the hills and kill a
few people, carrying away as much
loot as they could. They usually got
| a COW or so, a few goats, a brace of
chickens and household effects worth
comparatively little. When we took pos
session we called the savage chiefs
| to a conference and asked them how
much they made out of these annual
raids. They told us. and together we
| figured on the average about 1920 ru-
PEGS per annum. That Is a little more
| than $500. We thereupon proposed to
them that If they would let our ma
| tives alone and keep out of the terri
tory we would pay them this much at
| a fixed time every IL months. They
agreed to do so and thus far have
kept their contract They come at the
appointed season for their money, and,
| Notwithstanding that the value of the
property in the villages nearby has
| materially increased. they seem still
satisfied with the $780,
But is not that an undignified way
of keeping the peace?' I asked.
Yes, but in this instance 1t Is the
best. The only other thing we could
do would be to send troops into the
| territory. We should have to fight
all the time and without we wiped
out the savages 1t would mean a con-
| tinuous loss of money and life. The
| country is a jungle and our men would
be shot with poisoned arrows from
behind the trees. The savages could
XIII many of us without our being
| aple TO XIII them and the game does
| not seem to be worth the candle"
The BaclxwOOds of India
This talk gives one a peep into the
backwoods of India. This peninsula is a
world In itself. Hindustan has more ma
| lions than the continent of Europe. and
more races than you will find on the
hemisphere of the Americas Every To-
cality has its own tribes and peculiar
castles, and here and there are peoples of
Whom our world knows nothing Men
like those described by Secretary Robert
| son are scattered through the forests of
| the different sections of india There are
| queer collections of Mongols on the bor-
| 1ers of Tibet, strange forest dwellers on
he Nilgiri hills, and aborigines on the
various Islands, and in Kashmir and
Beluchistan one finds peoples and Gus
toms which differ as much as those of
| the Eskimos and the Anglo-Saxons
Ihere Is one great class here known as
jungle people. They live in the woods
and are about as savage as the natives
| Of the Kongo They believe In witches
and witch doctors and make bloody sac
worship. These people are generally
known as Animists and they number
eight or nine millions. They live in all
sorts Of ways, feeding largely on wild
| herbs and fruits, and dwelling In caves
| or temporary shacks which they leave
when they seek new location
In the eastern Himalayas are the
Nagas, the descendants of the ancient
snake worshipers. They are head hunt
ers and now and then raid the lowlands.
In southern India are the Yanads, who
have round huts made of brushwood, and
| who support themselves on jungle fruits
and wild honey. They are as shy as our
| Negritos, and will run at the sight of a
white man.
Among the Andamans
| During my stay in India l have met
some of the British officials who have
charge of the Andaman Islands. These
islands have long been a penal settlement
Of India. They lie in the Bay of Bengal
skirting the east coast. They are largely
| inhabited by aborigines who correspond
to our Negritos and live much like them.
Their homes are the forest. They move
| about from place to place, putting UP
shelters of leaves and twigs wherever