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THE KACHIN GROUP.

　The Singphs or Kachins are a numerous race, covering a large area, from Upper Assam across Northern Burma beyond the Chinese boundary into Ynnan. In Burma they presently extend as far south as 22ﾟ30' N. L. Their villages are scattered through- out the hills and mountains, and they have, to quote Mr. George, 'a horror for the plains, and but rarely come down to settle.' Only a small portion of them live within the territory included in the Linguistic Survey, in the Lakhimpur district of Assam, chiefly on the Buri Dihing, Noa Dihing, and Tengapani. A few Singphs are also returned from Sibsagar. They are here called Doniys, from the Assamese don, langu- age, foreign language. The Doniys are said to be half-breeds begotten by Singphs on Assamese slaves.

　The numbers of Singph speakers returned from Assam are:-

　The number of Singphs outside Assam cannot be estimated. At the Census of 1891 2,684 were numbered in Burma, but their chief places of residence lay outside of the terri- tory included in the census operations. The following account of their gradual spread is taken from the Rev. J. N. Cushing's Grammatical Sketch of the Kakhyen Language:-

　'The time of the appearance of the Kakhyen in the mountainous region of the extreme north of Burma, is uncertain. Their advent in Assam, and their advance southward and south-eastward in Burma, are compara- tively recent. Dalton, evidently depending on Hannay, fixes the date of their appearance in Assam about 1793. A linguistic fact shows that they enterd Assam after a long contact with the Burman. The Assamese Kakhyen have in common with those of Burma certain words of Burman origin which must have been the result of considerable intercourse with the Burman. Thus, in Bronson's Singpho Spelling Book, we find sanat, 'a gun'. apet, 'sin', ngrai, 'hell', hprah, 'god', which were manifestly obtained from the Burman.

　The Kakhyen made their first advances among the mountains between Bhamo and China, and began to displace the Shan population about two centuries ago. A Chinese Shan prince told me, that less than two hundred years ago there was not a Kakhyen village between Bhamo and Sanda. Now, the mountains are occupied by a large Kakhyen population... The Kakhyen are still pressing slowly southward and eastward, and displacing the Shan and Burman. In 1868 the writer was prevented from reaching the town of Theinni because the mountains were held by a strong force of Kakhyen at war with the Shan prince. Anxious reference was made to the fact, that they were increasing in number in the district. In such thinly-peopled regions, where the indigenous population is constantly diminishing, the Burman and Shan still cling to the banks of the rivers, while the Kakhyen cease to confine themselves altogether to the mountains.'

　Though several writers had formerly mentioned this tribe, it was not till the annexation of Upper Burma that we became closely acquainted with them. In Burma they are called Kachins. The Burmese word chin is applicable to any hill tribe of barbarous habits. Thus, the Chins are called so by the Burmans, but they have nothing to do with the Kachins. The spelling Kakhyen represents the older form, which still lives in the mouth of the people in Lower Burma. In Upper Burma khy and ky are pronounced ch, though the older form is written. The Kachins call themselves Ching-p or, dialectically, Sing-ph. In the western dialect this word is said to mean 'man,' but not so, according to Dr. Cushing, on the Burman side, where it only means a Singpho.

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