huts forming a village. They are the Kachins or Singpho, called by the Burmese Kakhyen, and are essentially hill tribes. Their habitat is the mountainous region north of Bhamo (Fig. I), probably reaching as far as the parallel 28° 30' north latitude, extending to the Chinese frontier on the east, and almost as far south-west as Mandalay; for although the States of Mong Mit and Mong Leng are nominally Shan, the Shans only inhabit the valleys and are much inferior in number to the Palungs and Kachins who live in the hills which form the greater part of the district. In recent times they have spread a long way to the South, there being many isolated Kachin villages in the Southern Shan States and even beyond the Salween river. The Kachins are broken up into small communities, each with its own chief, but have no common authority, and, owing to blood feuds often lasting several generations, there is a rigid exclusiveness between different tribes. Until recently they have had an evil reputation as cattle lifters and man stealers, and are regarded as outlaws by the Burmese and Shans, who stand in great awe of them.
As the first home of the race, Mr. George says 'that all tradition points to the head-quarters of the Irrawaddy as the ancestral nidus from which the Kachins came.' All the legends describe as their first ancestor a certain Shippawn-Ayawng, who was descended from the nats or spirits who lived on the hill called Majaw-shingrâ-pum, from which the Kachins say the Irrawaddy rises. This ancestor had many sons and from the eldest are descended the true Kachins who migrated from the Khakhu or headwaters; from the remaining sons are derived the various tribes. There is no doubt of the Tartar origin of the Kachins, although the isolating character of the hill country in which they live, their combative nature, and blood feuds have caused the race to be divided and sub-divided to a great extent. The tribes, sub-tribes and clans have decided differences in dress and sometimes even in physical appearance.
