The first thing that strikes a visitor in any part of these hills is the magnificence of their natural scenery and the attractiveness of the people, because of their simplicity, cheerfulness, honesty, courtesy, hospitality, vitality, colourfulness and a perfectly democractic outlook.
With the exception of Kashmir, hardly anywhere in the whole of India, does one come across such beautiful natural scenery as in the hills of Assam. When one drives from Shillong to Haflong through the undulating grassy plateaus, covered with thick woods of oak and pine, one might easily "imagine himself (as Colonel Gurdon aptly observes in his monograph on the Khasis) in Switzerland, were it not for the absence of the snowy ranges". As one enters the North Cachar Hills, the scenery changes into precipitious mountains and deep ravines. Sitting in the verandah of the Circuit House at Haflong of an evening one can experience an exhilarating sensation viewing range after range of blue hills receding far into the horizon, the glow of the evening sun weaving along the tops of the ridges a magic web of indescribable beauty.
In the Mizo District the scenery is different, rather rugged as compared with that of the Khasi and Jaintia or the North Cachar Hills, but yet it has a sombre grandeur which one could not appreciate better from anywhere else than from the top of the Blue Mountain (7600 ft.) in the south-eastern corner of the district. On a clear day one can have from this spot a view of the sun blazing the waters of the Bay of Bengal miles away.
Our surroundings influence our habits and character. The distinctive characteristics which are regarded as tribal are to a considerable extent shaped by the climate, the nature of the soil, the terrain and the scenery of the land which they inhabit.
With the exception of Kashmir, hardly anywhere in the whole of India, does one come across such beautiful natural scenery as in the hills of Assam. When one drives from Shillong to Haflong through the undulating grassy plateaus, covered with thick woods of oak and pine, one might easily "imagine himself (as Colonel Gurdon aptly observes in his monograph on the Khasis) in Switzerland, were it not for the absence of the snowy ranges". As one enters the North Cachar Hills, the scenery changes into precipitious mountains and deep ravines. Sitting in the verandah of the Circuit House at Haflong of an evening one can experience an exhilarating sensation viewing range after range of blue hills receding far into the horizon, the glow of the evening sun weaving along the tops of the ridges a magic web of indescribable beauty.
In the Mizo District the scenery is different, rather rugged as compared with that of the Khasi and Jaintia or the North Cachar Hills, but yet it has a sombre grandeur which one could not appreciate better from anywhere else than from the top of the Blue Mountain (7600 ft.) in the south-eastern corner of the district. On a clear day one can have from this spot a view of the sun blazing the waters of the Bay of Bengal miles away.
Our surroundings influence our habits and character. The distinctive characteristics which are regarded as tribal are to a considerable extent shaped by the climate, the nature of the soil, the terrain and the scenery of the land which they inhabit.
