TRIBALISM VS. COLONIALISM 17 most of the tribes, however, {humming was the mode of cultivation. This being less productive and more laborious, the tribes could not raise enough produce. The institution of slavery, in the absence of exploitation in the classical sense, could not help much in generating surplus. The method of agriculture, coupled with primitive technology, kept production at the subsistence level. Industry was home-based and directed to meeting essential consumption needs. The manufacturing activities of the tribes centred round small-scale cottage industries like weaving, pottery, basket-making, hand-carved ivory, wooden and bamboo articles, rudimentary blacksmithy and silver-smithy products, like crude swords, smoking pipes and ornaments. The Singhpos had mastered the technique of smelting iron and with very simple implements manufacturing dao which were highly prized all over the frontier for their durability.9 In the absence of mass production in agriculture and industry, forest resources played an important role in the hill economy. The chief sources of wealth for the Mishmis consisted of the poisonous root Aconitwn fero\' and the valuable medicinal plant coptis teeta or Mishmi teeta which grew abundantly in the hills.10 The hills were also rich in rubber and timber. A great variety of wild life was seen in Arunachal. The Namsangias and Borduarias were in possession of brine-springs of considerable value. They collected spring water and manufactured salt out of it but the mode of manufacture was crude and the process slow and wasteful.11 Technological backwaidness and poverty of resources kept the tribes dependent on adjoining areas for the supply of essential commodities, including the implements of agriculture, husbandry, and weapons. The marketable surplus was brought down by the hillmen to the borders of Assam and bartered for essential commodities. The term 'essential commodities' is stressed because the driving force of the economy was the satisfaction of immediate wants and not the search for profit. The tribal economy bore a close resemblance to the African economy where the dictum 'enough was enough' stood in sharp contrast to the accumulative drive of industrial societies with their emphasis on 'more than enough'.12 Barter trade balanced sectoral deficiencies but hardly gave any incentive for profit. Traditional Trade The long distance trade of the Arunachalis passed through twin channels, one flowing into the plains of Assam and the other finding outlets into Tibet, China and Burma. There were a number of traditional trade routes to Tibet, China and Burma from Arunachal Pradesh,13 the more important being the Kameng Valley route through Bomdi-la, Sela via Tawang to Tibet, the Lohit Valley route via Rima to Tibet and the famous Hukong Valley route to Burma by which the