| caption: |
Chapter Eight. The Harvest |
| caption: |
property of Konyak scattered irregularly over whole area |
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Unlike the land of many other farmers, the property of a Konyak is not grouped together in one place, but is scattered irregularly over the whole of the village land. Thus it happens that whether the land to be cultivated that year lies to the east of Wakching or to the west, north, or south, a man is sure to own, or to be able to hire enough for his own needs. Among many tribes practising shifting cultivation most of the land is owned collectively by the village-community, and every man is free to clear any piece of jungle he chooses. Not so in Wakching; there each piece of land, each tree, and each clump of bamboos has a jealous owner, and trespassing is energetically prosecuted. |
