| caption: |
reasons for not taking the census job; North Lakhimpur |
| text: |
You don't owe me anything for the china. It saved me buying the necessary stuff from Calcutta. |
| text: |
I thought very carefully about this job before taking it on, and came to the conclusion that I had no hope of getting back to the N.Hs if I spent three years in Shillong doing Census. I should not have liked Shillong. The people there don't want to know anyone outside their own particular pals. Dennehy is one of the exceptions, of course, and there are a few others as well. |
| text: |
North Lakhimpur is a real good spot. I wish you could see a Deori village. They have got all the sacrificial knives and sacred instruments of music used to summon forth the gods which they brought with them from Sadiya centuries and centuries ago, but they are locked up at the top of a little tin house at the top of a long Nahor upright. They be great drunkards. The last day of their Bihu they did an excellent Naga dance - women dancing round and round in a circle, and dekas in a separate circle. It looked ridiculous to see it done in dhotis. Assamese are terrified of their magic. |
| text: |
Try and come here in the cold weather and catch a fish in the Subansiri. |
| text: |
Gunison is with me now, and we've had a good week together. He buzzes off tomorrow. |
