In the Andamans and Nicobars: The Narrative of a Cruise in the Schooner "Terrapin"

[1] The Aboriginal Inhabitants of the Andaman Islands, by E. H. Man, 1884.

[2] On February 24th of this year Mr Vaux was killed while leading a punitive expedition against a section of the Jarawa tribe, who had recently murdered some wood-cutters. He rushed the last of several hostile camps by night, and took a number of prisoners; but, treading in the ashes of a smouldering fire at the moment of success, he caused it to blaze up, and being seen by a retreating native, was shot through the chest with an arrow, and died almost immediately.

[3] The Sellungs are a primitive and timid tribe, who wander in canoes among the Mergui Islands during the fine weather, and make temporary settlements on lee-shores in the south-west monsoon. They number between two and three thousand.

[4] The Cruise of the Marchesa, by F. H. H. Guillemard, second edition, London, 1889.

[5] 1901.

[6] Temperature in 1891 = 103.5. Hume visited the island in 1873 and noted 140°, while in 1866 the Andaman Committee found the temperature to be between 158° and 163°. In 1857 Dr Mouat landed, and writes of "a natural boiling spring, the waters so extremely hot that they rendered the sea in the immediate neighbourhood warm enough to roast crabs in their shells," and about the same date Dr von Liebig records a broad but thin sheet of nearly boiling water issuing from beneath the lava, and the sea warm for many yards to a depth of more than 8 feet. Earlier still, in 1831, we have Dr Adam's account, which states that 100 yards from shore the water was nearly boiling; the stones and rocks on shore exposed at low tide were smoking and hissing, and the water was boiling all round them.

[7] In 1789 only withered shrubs and blasted trees were to be seen on parts remote from the cone (Blair): while as late as 1866 there were no trees of any height, but on the slopes and ridges abundance of bushes, some rising 20 feet (Report of the Andaman Committee).

[8] Rulers of India Series—The Earl of Mayo, by Sir W. W. Hunter.

[9] A somewhat similar weapon to this remarkable bow is found among the Oregon Indians, and also seen in the composite bow of the Eskimos, while a third, still more closely approaching it in appearance and principle, is found in New Ireland and the New Hebrides.

An interesting account of the Andamanese bow, with a series of photographs showing the various stages of construction, has been contributed by Mr M. V. Portman to the Archery volume of the Badminton Library.

[10] See Appendix F.

[11] Scurvy is more prevalent on Little than on Great Andaman, perhaps owing to the low-lying swampy formation of the larger portion of the island. Hereditary syphilis is believed to be common among the Öngés, having been possibly introduced at some remote period prior to the occupation of 1858. Whether it is to be traced to Malay pirates, or through the Jarawa tribes to the Settlement of 1789, will never be ascertained, but, in coming to a conclusion, the Nicobarese must also be considered as a factor in the case.

[12] "The hut was of the usual type of Little Andaman dwellings, having raised platforms for the married people to sleep on; several large baskets were slung up to the roof, and two rows of pigs' skulls ornamented the walls, showing from their numbers (about 500) that there was no lack of food."—M. V. Portman.

[13] The canoes are sometimes fitted with an outrigger, and it has been supposed that this has been adopted from some Point de Galle fishing-boat wrecked on the islands, for early writers never mention its existence (Sir H. Yule, Encyclopædia Britannica); but it is much simpler to conjecture it to be a copy of the same feature from the Nicobarese canoe. On the other hand, there is no argument against it being original, for the aborigines of New South Wales and Queensland have a canoe that is in every way almost the exact counterpart of the Andamanese vessel.

[14] Such tide-races are not uncommon among the Nicobar Islands, and later we met with several others, though none so severe as this first. The tides round Kar Nicobar run with great velocity; a rate of 7 knots has been noted to the eastward of the island.

[15] The Semangs, a group of Negritoes in the Malay Peninsula, surrounded by dominant peoples dwelling in pile-buildings, still retain their practice of building huts akin to those of the Andamanese.

[16] Of Barringtonia speciosa, Eugenia javanica, and Calophyllum inophyllum.

[17] The Dyaks of Borneo employ a similar protection in their rice granaries.

[18] Kissát is the Kar Nicobarese name for the loin-cloth worn by males. In the Central and Southern Islands of the group this article of attire is styled neng.

[19] In contradistinction to the village, which is known as "panam."

[20] These large buildings in Elpanam are equivalent to the "Balai" of the Malays, for in them visitors are installed, feasts are held, and general meetings take place.

[21] At delivery a recumbent position is assumed, and the mother is attended by the nearest neighbours, who assist by pressing and kneading the abdomen.

[22] Cf. Dyak custom, "When an interesting event is about to happen, the lady is secluded in a small house, where she remains for several months, during which no stranger is allowed to enter the hut."—The Head-hunters of Borneo, by Carl Bock.

The practice of couvade is said to exist among the Nicobarese, but we heard nothing of it during our visit.

[23] This tree is found only in the southern islands, whence the large sea-going canoes are obtained through the natives of Chaura, who act as middlemen.

[24] "A century ago, all the natives of Kar Nicobar spoke the Portuguese of the Indian Eurasians."—Hamilton, Asiatic Researches, vol. ii.

[25] Letters of recommendation:—

(a) "The bearer of this, Friend of England, is a very worthy young man. He supplied me with a great quantity of nuts last voyage, and he can be trusted to any amount under 6000 pairs.

(b) "This is to certify that I have traded with Friend of England, a native of this island, in coconuts, fruits, etc. Since I have found him to be trusty, honest to his agreements, therefore, I feel pleasure in saying that you can trust him with the truth before heaven.

(c) "On our visit to the north side of Car Nicobar, I found the bearer, Friend of England, an honest, inoffensive man, and very willing to afford all the assistance in his power to us during our stay.

[26] His portrait is, unfortunately, a failure, as he seems to have moved slightly during the time of exposure.

[27] This is partly supported by a small monthly subsidy from the Bishopric of Rangoon.

[28] Singapore Review, vol. ii.

[29] A. L. Butler, Supp. And. and Nic. Gazette, Nov. 1897.

[30] "I once weighed one of these birds and found it to be only six times greater than its own egg; whereas I found that a domestic hen weighs twenty-two times as much as its own egg."—E. H. Man.

[31] After Mr E. H. Man, by Col. Strahan, R.E., when surveying the Nicobars in 1886-7.

[32] This may possibly be one of the results of elevation. As the island grew, nuts drifted to its changing shores and took root, until, as more and more land appeared, those trees which at one time stood along the edge of the island would at length be situated in the interior. Kar Nicobar, another low island of similar formation, also possesses forests of indigenous coconuts.

"Trinkat, being flat, is divided amongst the inhabitants of the other two islands, where they have their plantations of coconuts and areca palms: these last being very abundant."—Fontana, Asiatic Researches, vol. iii., 1778.

[33] The name of Mr Man is one to conjure with in the Nicobars. Everywhere we met with expressions of regret that he was about to retire after some thirty years' acquaintance with this group and the Andamans. Now and then we made rather unwarranted use of his reputation—did we want the portrait of a native who was rather nervous at the sight of the camera. "Here, come along, and don't be afraid, Mr Man does this," and it was all right.

[34] "The number of inhabitants on any one of the (central) islands does not exceed 700 or 800. Ten or twelve huts form a village. Each village has its 'Captain.' A woman who bears three children is very fruitful; few bear more than four. No men seem older than forty or fifty; women live longer."—Fontana, Asiatic Researches, vol. iii., 1778.

[35] Pronounced like pain (French).

[36] We were told on the west coast of Great Nicobar, that no valuables were kept in the village there for fear of the Shom Peṅ, but that all treasured possessions were stored in boxes, at Pulo Kondul.

[37] "To the middle portion of the roof frame an image of the household god is attached; from the walls are suspended human figures carved from wood, and enwreathed with bundles of grass or coconut leaflets, which are regarded as charms for the cure of diseases. Above the centre posts are hung up, strung to rattan, all the lower jawbones of hogs that have been slaughtered by the family: and their number furnishes a due estimate of the wealth of the owner of the house.... Wooden figures of men armed with sword and shield, and women in a dancing posture, with outstretched arms, are hung up in the rear and other parts of the building."—"The People of Nias," The Races of Mankind, A. Featherman.

[38] Inúanga.

[39] Dr Scherzer (Cruise of the "Novara") states that they were used for frightening away the devil and driving him into the sea. Cf., however, the Ma-ya-kuv-ka-ma-ka of the Kar Nicobarese (p. 295); and also an old Kar Nicobarese custom: "In every village there is a high pole erected, with long strings of rattan hanging from it, which it is said has virtue to keep the devil at a distance" (Hamilton, Asiatic Researches, vol. ii.). On the other hand, Colebrooke (Asiatic Researches, vol. iv.), writes: "In front of the villages, and a little advanced in the water, they plant beacons of a great height, which they adorn with tufts made of grass or the bark of some tree. These objects are discernible at a great distance, and are intended probably as landmarks; their houses, which are overshadowed by thick groves of coconut trees, seldom being visible from afar."

[40] These flags are made by the natives, and some of them are a legacy from the Danish occupation—a white St George's cross on a red ground, with a double-ended fly.

[41] Fontana mentions the palm leaves and other branches decorating the hut doors at festivals, 1778.

[42] Colebrooke, Asiatic Researches, vol. iv.

[43] "The Danes have long maintained a small settlement at the place which stands on the northernmost point of Nankauri within the harbour. A sergeant and three or four soldiers, a few black slaves, and two rusty pieces of ordnance, compose the whole. They have here two houses, one of which, entirely built of wood, is their habitation; the other, formerly inhabited by the missionaries, serves now for a storehouse."—Colebrooke, Asiatic Researches, vol. iv.

[44] Malacca.

[45] "The large, neatly-made bundles of trimmed billets of wood, have always been mistaken for firewood, even by Pastor Rosen, who spent three or four years in the Harbour. They are, however, made merely to serve as offerings, and are rolled on to a grave of some relative or friend. They are supposed to represent a substantial token of affection and regard as they take much trouble to make. Their bundles of firewood are also cylindrical, but consist of dry scraps of wood picked up in the jungle and tied round with pieces of cane."—E. H. Man.

[46] Canoes also are occasionally fed with chickens.

[47] The white-bellied sea-eagle (Cuncuma leucogaster).

[48]

It is extraordinary that people who are comparatively so far removed from savagedom, and so fond of dancing and singing, should have no musical instruments. They are acquainted with a kind of flute used by the Burmese, and a "guitar," but can show nothing of their own invention. Even the Andamanese, absolute savages as they are, possess a species of sounding-board, on which they beat time to their songs.

[49] I.e., "my marry" = my wife.

[50] Mr E. H. Man writes, however:—"Water is plentiful in the numerous masonry wells and reservoir in the old Government station which is in the harbour. We used to boil and filter it by way of precaution, and then it was quite safe."

[51] Vide Asiatic Journal, vols. xiii., xv., xvi.

[52] Père Barbe, Jour. Asiatic Soc. Bengal, vol. xv.

[53] Singapore Review, vol. ii.

[54] "Some Malays, who were at the Nicobars at the time, afterwards stated that the Pilot was attacked because the crew had tried to get hold of the native women; but those of the landing-party who escaped in the whaleboat, although attacked on shore simultaneously with the ship, tell a very different story."—Vide Asiatic Journal, 1841.

[55] A somewhat different, and more accurate, account of the incident is given in a volume of sketches by John Strange Winter, entitled A Siege Baby. I have given here the unamended version of the natives as related to us by the headman.

Mr E. H. Man writes:—"The story given by Tanamara, regarding de Röepstorff's murder, is very incorrect. The murderer (a havildar of the Madras Infantry detachment then stationed at Nankauri) was under trial for having assaulted a convict. After recording a lot of contradictory evidence, de R. adjourned the case, whereupon the Madras Infantry jemadar pleaded on behalf of the havildar. The magistrate reproved him for his interference, whereupon the latter went and informed the havildar that he would probably receive a severe sentence which might result in his dismissal from the army. This so enraged the havildar that on de R. riding past the M. I. barracks a few hours later the same day, he shot him from his room. The havildar was the crack shot of the Madras army, having twice carried off Commander-in-Chief's prize. He shot himself on seeing that he had inflicted a mortal wound. De R. died within a minute or so. It was his wife who despatched news of the affair to Port Blair by a bagla, which had just arrived in Nankauri Harbour. In five days I arrived and held the inquiry. Mrs de Röepstorff during those five days had a natural horror of the M. I. sepoys, and she would not allow any of them to approach the house. Her Indian servants and others remained with her as before."

[56] Vocabulary of the Dialects spoken in the Nicobars and Andamans, Port Blair, 3s. Dictionary of Nancowry and Nicobarese Languages (both parts), Calcutta, 7s. 6d.

[57] This decline of population has been even more marked in the southern group than in the central, and has been found to be due to paucity of births and not to increased mortality. It has been attributed to injury done by the practice among the men of the Central and Southern Islands of fastening the neng or loin-cloth unduly tightly over the organs of generation, whereby these are in many cases rendered impotent. At Kar Nicobar, Teressa, and Bompoka, and Chaura the neng is worn less tightly.

[58] Hamilton's Account of the East Indies, Pinkerton's Collection of Travels.

[59] Vide Père Barbe, Jour. Asiatic Soc. Bengal, vol. xv.

[60] These are all imported, many in order to sell to Kar Nicobarese.

[61] Père Barbe (Jour. Asiatic Soc. Bengal, 1847) mentions other monopolies: lime might only be burnt at Kar Nicobar, boats built only at Nankauri, and to the same island was restricted the sowing of paddy. (The last a possible evidence of local Malay immigration.)

With reference to this note, Mr E. H. Man writes:—

"Lime (by burning certain sea-shells) can be made only in the southern group, Kachal, all villages inside Nankauri Harbour—except Ong-yúang, also the villages in Dring and Expedition harbours.

"Lime (made by burning coral) can be made only at Kar Nicobar.

"Canoes (large and small) are made in the central and southern groups where suitable trees are plentiful.

"Canoes (small) are made at Kar Nicobar, Teressa, and Bompoka."

[62] Vide E. H. Man, Jour. Anthrop. Inst., 1893, vol. xxiii.

[63] Probably obtained from the deserted Government establishment at Nankauri Harbour.

[64] Supercargoes.

[65] A legend illustrative of the unpleasant qualities of the pandanus, recorded by Mr F. C. Christian in The Caroline Islands, runs: that the Thunder-god, descending to earth, alighted in a pandanus bush, and found the situation so painful that he bestowed the art of making fire and moulding-pots upon the woman who released him from his predicament!

[66] The Nicobarese equivalent is menlúana ("medicine man," or shaman).

[67] The belief that evil spirits cannot cross water seems to be of world-wide prevalence, cf. Burns' "Tam o' Shanter."

[68] This cetacean is probably of the same species as that observed by Mr Holdsworth in the Indian Ocean, and described in the Mammals of India.

[69]

[70] Dr K. Scherzer.

[71] The tupai of Little Nicobar, which differs somewhat from that of Great Nicobar—principally the light areas of the pelage are less yellow and less contrasted with dark areas—is considered a sub-species by Mr Gerrit D. Miller, who has named it Tupaia nicobarica surda.

[72] About this fact I am not certain, for the Malay in which our informant expressed himself was a thing quite sui generis.

[73] These fences were met with by de Röepstorff on the east coast (Jour. Asiatic Soc. Bengal), and by the members of the Galathea Expedition up the Galathea River in Great Nicobar (Corvetten Galathea's Jordourseiling, Steen Bille, Kjöbenhaven, 1852).

[74] The Malay roko is an affair of much wrapper and little tobacco, whose flavour would seem so bonfire-like as to be akin to the brown paper or stump of cane smoked by precocious and naughty little boys at home!

[75] It is difficult to believe that this is the true reason of the trees' infertility; but it is a fact that no coco palms, except those about the houses, bear any nuts.

[76] The ikan parang is known to us as the "garfish."

[77] Pulo (Malay, island), on the west coast, is probably a mispronunciation of Telok (Malay, bay), for at only one of the small anchorages so designated is there an island at all.

[78] Ficus brevicuspis(?)

[79] An exact counterpart to this weapon has been observed among the "Alfurus" of Kau, Gilolo; vide plate in Kukenthal's Im Malayischen Archipel.

[80] Native name = Láful.

[81]

[82] "The coast natives, man for man, are superior to the Shom Peṅ, and regard themselves so both physically and mentally. I have known of a lot of the latter (estimated at about 20) attacking a coast hut in which there were only two men. On these showing resistance and wounding a couple of the Shom Peṅ with wooden spears, thrown from inside the hut, the latter fled, carrying away the two wounded men. I have never heard of Shom Peṅ venturing to attack the coast people unless they were in superior numbers and could take them by surprise,"—writes Mr E. H. Man, however.

[83] Halcyon pileata, conspicuous by its white-tipped wings, was very common on the river, and the calls of one or two birds not elsewhere obtained, were distinguished. Numbers of fish were seen in the shallows, and sometimes a snake swimming from bank to bank was to be observed.

[84] This was the estimated area before Col. Hobday's survey of 1883-5.

[85] "Juru," Andamanese = Sea.

[86] The absence of this tree has doubtless had as much to do with the isolation in which the aborigines have lived as the hostility of the latter, for the islands produce little else than rattans and trepang—which would necessitate arduous collecting—to induce native traders to visit them.

[87] Comparatively few.

[88] The Malay Archipelago, p. 9.

[89] Vide paper on the "Geology of the Andamans," by Dr R. D. Oldham, Proceedings, Geological Survey of India, vol. xviii.

[90] Still being deposited at Barren Island.

[91] This conclusion, although in some ways difficult to conceive of—for the Arakan coast to the north, and the Nicobars to the south, are both fringed by raised coral beaches, which show they have recently been elevated—is based principally on the fact that stumps of trees, which grow only above high-water mark, and beyond the reach of salt water, are found in the mangrove swamps and on the seashore.

[92] Pinkerton's Collection of Voyages.

[93] Extractes of Master Cæsar Frederike: his Eighteen Yeares' Indian Observations. Purchus: his Pilgrimes, London, 1625; vol. ii., p. 1710.

[94] A Voyage Round the World by Dr John Francis Gemelli Careri. Churchill's Collection of Voyages and Travels, vol. iv.

[95] Pinkerton's Collection of Voyages.

[96] A Mission to Ava, by Col. Michael Syme, 3 vols.

[97] The Indian Antiquary, monthly numbers, April 1900-June 1901, contains articles by Lieut.-Col. R. C. Temple on Blair's reports of his survey and settlement in the Andamans.

[98] Vide "Our Monthly," June and July 1883. Rangoon.

[99] Since 1879, when the Cocos were transferred from the Commission of the Andamans to that of Burma, several settlements, less unfortunate, have been made in the same island for the purpose of trade in coconuts and timber. There is now a lighthouse on Table Island—the most northerly of the group—where many wild cattle (originally domestic) roam.

[100] As one goes from South to North, the tribes become larger in stature and redder (less black).—M. V. Portman, Jour. Royal Asiatic Soc., 1881.

[101] Lieut.-Col. R. C. Temple, quoted in The Aboriginal Inhabitants of the Andaman Islands, by E. H. Man—a work that deals in a most exhaustive manner with the subjects indicated in the title, but is now, unfortunately, out of print.

[102] "The dead are often disposed of on platforms erected in the fork of some suitable tree. Old people and infants are generally buried."—E. H. Man.

[103] In the Jour. Royal Asiatic Soc., 1881, Mr M. V. Portman writes:—"Although traditions of a Creation, a Fall, a Deluge, and a future state have been recorded as extant among the Andamanese, there is reason to believe that these accounts are merely the Christian religion as formerly taught in the Andaman orphanages, and distorted among the natives; for, while the southern tribes have a legend of a stone house where the Deity was born, the northern tribes, who have not been brought into contact with the Settlement, have no such tradition;" but Mr E. H. Man records traditions of a Creation, Fall, and Deluge, obtained from aborigines possessing no knowledge of what had been taught to the few small children at the Orphanage (chiefly reading and writing, sewing, basket work, etc.), and moreover, doubts whether any of the latter were capable of giving an intelligent—if any—account of the views held by Christians on these subjects.

"The Andamanese traditions do not resemble those of Christians.... Savages in other parts of the world," writes Mr Man, "possessed traditions on the same subjects before missionaries or other Christians ever visited them."