| caption: |
Kohima Magistrate's Court |
| text: |
There was a Khasi Magistrate there as Treasury Officer who ran the office with its staff of Naga clerks when I was on tour but few cases were tried in Court by me as I preferred to visit a village with an experienced dobashi and learn what the village elders and the dobashi thought of the case or saw the ritual of oath taking always taking a tiger's tooth with me for the oath taker to bite upon. I was aware of my ignorance of custom as Hutton's book on Angamis and the one by him on Semas were published only in 1921 after I had left for N.Lakhimpur. He heard more cases in Court in Kohima having the knowledge to do so. |
