OUR VISIT TO THE NICOBARS 



109 



Two spirit figures. 



turned out to be the same creatures. They were tree-shrews, a strange 

 family of mammals which used to be classed with the insectivora but are 

 now included in the lemurs, a re-classification which I had unconsciously 

 confirmed owing to their monkey-like behaviour. 



After a short walk up the left bank of the Galathea River, which was 

 overgrown with mangroves, I was obliged to return to our landing-point 

 as the sun was setting and threatening clouds were gathering. I had not 

 gone far when the rain poured down, and with astonishing suddenness 

 it was dark. Re-embarkation was in full swing, but as the swell had in- 

 creased with the shower it was slow work. Fortunately, we had with us a 

 North Sea fisherman to row the boat in and out through the surf, but 

 he could take only three at a time and had difficulty in finding his di- 

 rection in the dark. We tried to light a bonfire on the beach, but though 

 we struck all our dry matches we failed to get a light as everything was 

 soon soaking wet in the steadily pouring rain. Only the fireflies, fluttering 

 in myriads along the shore, seemed unaffected by it. The flashes of light- 

 ning and the rumbling of the thunder helped to create a dramatic situation. 

 It was nine o'clock that evening before the last boat-load had arrived and 

 the subsequent roll-call showed that all were safely on board. 



At several places we had tried to buy one of the large and elegant 

 native canoes for our National Museum, but they are made only on Great 

 Nicobar and the natives had been reluctant to sell them. We therefore 

 decided to make another attempt on the north coast of Great Nicobar. 



