KOOKIES, or LUNCTAS, the name of a barbarous race, who live among the mountains to the north-east of the province of Chittagong, in Bengal. They are but little known to the inhabitants of the plains, with whom they rarely have any intercourse, except when they occasionally visit the markets on the borders of the jungles in the Runganeeah and Aurungabad districts, to purchase salt, dried fish, and tobacco.
Of all the various tribes which have yet come to the knowledge of the British in these mountains, the Kookies are perhaps the least civilized. Their chief employments are war and the chase; and, like all mountaineers who are of roving habits, and inured to fatigue, they are of an active muscular make, but not tall. They have the peculiar features of all the natives of Eastern Asia, namely, the flat nose, small eye, and broad round face. Their political union seems to be extremely imperfect, being divided into a number of distinct tribes, totally independent of each other, though they all acknowledge the authority of three different Rajahs. The power of these rulers, however, is very limited, excepting in the tribe with which they live, where it is absolute. The dignity is hereditary, and it belongs to the Rajah, in cases of general danger, to summon all the warriors to arms. Each tribe is under the command of its own chief, who is abso-
lute both in war and peace, and has the power of life and death. This office is elective; though, in general, the chieftain is succeeded by his nearest relation. Kookies.
The Kookies are armed with bows and arrows, spears, clubs, and daves, a species of hand-hatchet, which, in close combat, is a most destructive weapon. They have shields of cow-hide, and use various devices, in order to render themselves hideous to their enemies. Their villages are built on the steepest and most inaccessible hills, by way of precaution against any sudden attack. As a farther security, they are surrounded with a thick bamboo palisade, and the passages leading into them strictly guarded both day and night, more especially if there is any suspicion of danger. But, in all cases, they are extremely unwilling to admit strangers within the limits of the fortification. Every village belongs to a tribe, which consists seldom of less than 400 or 500 inhabitants, and sometimes of 1000 or 2000.
This barbarous race is involved in perpetual hostility, not only from the quarrels of their Rajahs, but from the depredations committed on each other by the different villages, and their constant refusal to give up the guilty persons. In these cases a petty and destructive warfare ensues, which is carried on with all the secret stratagems and barbarous devices of savages. Their favourite plan is to approach their enemies secretly and by night marches; after they come within sight of their prey, they lurk in ambuscade till dawn, when they commence their attack with a great shout, striking their spears against their shields, and, in all cases where they are successful, they massacre indiscriminately man, woman, and child. On some occasions where they spare the children, they adopt them into their own families; and the only slaves among them are the captives thus taken.
The Kookies are of the most vindictive disposition, and, in all cases, they require blood for blood. To such a length do they carry the principle of revenge, that if a tiger should happen to kill any of them, the whole tribe sets out in pursuit of him, and they never rest until they kill this or some other tiger in retaliation. They are much occupied in the chase, and as they are restrained by no prejudice of cast or sect, they shoot indiscriminately all sorts of animals. Part of their attention is also directed to agriculture; but in this the women perform the chief part of the drudgery. They have no coins among them, and their trade is, in consequence, carried on by means of barter. They have an idea of a future state of rewards and punishments. But their notions are confused and superstitious, and they imagine that the surest road to the favour of the Deity is by destroying the greatest number of their enemies.
The Asiatic Researches, Vol. VII. contains an Account of the Kookies, or Lunctas, by John Macrae, Esq. whose information was derived from a native of the Runganeeah district, who, when a boy, was carried off by the Kookies, and succeeded, after a captivity of 20 years, in returning to his family.