102 



OUR VISIT TO THE NICOBARS 



torches made from bundles of dried palm leaves. A chorus of wailing 

 women's voices issued from a large hut just by the landing-place. 



On the shore in front of the hut stood a rusty old iron bedstead over 

 which was erected a frame of bamboo canes decorated with flags. We 

 learnt later on that the bed was a sort of cloak-room where guests left 

 their things — sticks, weapons, and so forth — before entering the hut 

 for the celebration. It had come from a British hospital, having been 

 "liberated" by the natives when the British had evacuated the islands 

 in 1942. 



The hut from which the wailing issued was one of the usual circular 

 ones on piles but was very large, I think the largest in the village. You 

 entered it by ascending a tree-trunk with steps carved in it. The inside 

 of the hut was illuminated by the faint light of oil lamps, and a strong 

 reek of burning oil, rancid pork, and cigarette smoke assailed us as we 

 stepped inside. The grotesque sight which met our eyes almost took our 

 breath away. Sitting cross-legged on the floor surrounding the central 

 pole were a number of young women, each holding in her lap a human 

 skull! The skulls were swathed in several layers of brightly coloured cot- 

 ton material, some also in bath-towels, leaving only the "face" free. Over 

 and above the cloth each skull had a head-dress, which in most cases con- 



Each of the native women sat holding a 

 fantastically decorated skull. In the ^scaf- 

 folding^ of the front skull are bunches of 

 keys, while the skull in the background is 

 adorned with forks. 



