388 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XII. 



The pride of the Nicobarese in English names is well known. The ugliest 

 man on Car Nicobar, with hideous projecting teeth covered with horrible 

 incrustations of betel, rejoices in the name of " Sweet William," and many 

 other names testify to the delicate irony of the officers of the Andaman 

 Commission. 



There is a tale of a ship-wrecked crew, who, huddled together at night on 

 the beach of one of the Nicobars, heard the sound of paddles and then voices 

 and approaching footsteps. Fully expecting to be attacked they sang out to 

 the newcomers in good nervous Anglo-Saxon to keep their distance. History 

 hath it, that the reassuring reply received was " What for you fraid me ! 

 I not eat man ! My name Lady-killer !" 



I lived for a week with one Kingfisher, headman of a village called Perka, 

 where I got the new hawk. I found him by far the most intelligent man on 

 the island, and he gave me a great deal of help, besides most hospitably mov- 

 ing out of his house to make room for me, and bringing me fowls, yams, &c.; 

 his willingness to assist, unlike that of his neighbours, outlasting my stock of 

 rum. 



One day a deputation from the village of Kakana came to a?k me to come 

 with my gun and capture or shoot a man who had run amok, which seemed 

 to promise a little excitement. They complained that he had fired a house 

 and killed a lot of pigs with his dah and threatened to cut down the first 

 man who interfered with him. On enquiry as to whose house he had burnt, 

 they said his own. Further questioned, they admitted that the deceased pigs 

 also were his own property. I came to the conclusion that a punitive expedi- 

 tion was unnecessary. 



The Nicobarese ought to be among the most contented people in the world. 

 Every one lives on terms of perfect equality with his neighbours. Beyond 

 occasional illness they have no cares or troubles, and there is absolutely no 

 straggle for existence, cocoanuts and pandanus, their staple foods, being in 

 such profusion that a child old enough to climb a tree could support himself 

 without exertion. 



The marriage relations are very loose, but for all that seem to work very 

 smoothly. As long as a couple are fond of each other and agree they live 

 together ; if they get tired of each other they separate and marry again. 

 There seems to be no objection to an unmarried girl having as many lovers 

 as she likes. The place would interest Mr. Grant Allen immensely. 



There is generally some sort of festivity going on,- principally canoe racing 

 and dancing. A pair of the large racing canoes from Chowra manned by 

 twenty-five or thirty men make a fine sight, but their pace suggests unfavour- 

 able comparison with the speed of an English racing eight. The course is 

 generally long, and as every one sings at the top of his voice throughout the 

 race, the performers are pretty well exhausted at the finish. Both canoes 

 keep nearly parallel, and no one seems to mind much which comes in first. 



