OUR VISIT TO THE NICOBARS 97 



islands on the west, and on the east they are separated from the Malay 

 Peninsula by the Andaman Sea nearly 4,000 metres deep. 



Our reason for calhng at the Nicobars was not merely that they lay 

 athwart our path but equally that they once belonged to Denmark. It 

 is a little remembered fact though it is less than a hundred years since we 

 voluntarily — and freely - — ceded them to Britain. The transfer of 

 sovereignty had been preceded by more than a century of Danish attempts 

 at colonization, all of which had failed after a few years of hopeless 

 struggle against the unhealthy tropical climate. Many enterprising and 

 adventurous Danes had lost their lives in these unsuccessful projects, the 

 notorious Nicobar fever taking a heavy toll at every new attempt. 



All this seemed very remote and unreal as we gazed at the magnificent 

 scenery that morning. Yet Nankowry Harbour where we now were had 

 witnessed several of these tragic attempts. One of our objects in calling 

 at the place was to try to discover whether the early colonists had left 

 any traces. Let me say at once that, on the whole, the result of our search 

 was negative. All that remains of the Danish occupation on Nankowry 

 Island is a few brick foundations; the rest has been wiped out by the 

 tropical climate and vegetation. More thorough exploration and excava- 

 tions might reveal a little more, but I think it is safe to say that there 

 are more relics of the Nicobars in Denmark than vice versa. The corvette 

 Galathea, returning from the final Danish attempt at colonization in 

 January — February 1846, brought back copious ethnological collec- 

 tions to the National Museum in Copenhagen. It was also our object 

 to supplement this material, so as to enable our ethnologists to ascertain 

 what change had taken place in the native culture over the past century. 

 Our third object was to collect fauna for the Copenhagen Zoological 

 Museum. The first Galathea Expedition had already done so, but a 

 considerable part of the collections, including the birds, had gone to the 

 University of Kiel and is believed to have been lost. The islands have a 

 distinctive and peculiar fauna which we were interested to have repre- 

 sented in our museum. 



We thus had plenty to do, and in order not to waste the short time 

 available the work was distributed in advance among various landing 

 parties. Nankowry Harbour is actually a sound formed by two islands, 

 Nankowry on the south and Camorta on the north. The parties were 

 divided between the two islands. 



Various formalities had to be gone through before we were able to 

 land. The islands belong to India, with which they were included when 

 India gained her independence in 1947. Presumably this was because 



