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Chapter One. The Material Background |
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There are no settlements in the dense, virgin forest of the low valleys, and the way from the river beds to any of the Konyak villages leads for about an hour through high tropical rain forest and patches of bamboo jungle. Gradually this forest recedes and gives way to hill slopes covered with bush or low secondary jungle, which is periodically cleared for cultivation. Even when one reaches the fields of rice and taro, the village may still be far away, and before one approaches it, the path leads once more through high shady forest. This is the wood reserve of the village, which provides fuel and timber and may, therefore, never be cleared for cultivation. Such forest, covering the ridges above an altitude of 4000 feet, is largely deciduous and in the spring many trees cover themselves with magnificent white, pink, and red blossoms. |
