480 BURMA, ITS PEOPLE ASP PRObUCTlONS. 



' Invertubrate,' and 'Geologist,' and a riglit jolly and interesting time of it (licy seem, 

 to have had. Tho following extract will give a general idea of the geographical 

 relations of the group inhabited hy these Idamcless Autochthones. "These islands 

 have never yet been very accurately surveyed, imleed the chief materials for the chart 

 for the Xicohars are derived from the very partial surveys executed by the Novara 

 expedition, but the distances below are approximately correct. From Cape Negrais 

 to Prcparis 8.5 miles; rriiiaris to Great Cocos 50 miles; Great Cocos to the northern- 

 most ))oint of the Great Andauuui 4.5 miles. Total length of the Great Andaman 

 l;i5 miles, llacphersou's Straits divide the latter from Eutlaud Island, which is 10 

 miles in length. Then comes a blank of 80 miles before we reach Car ^''ieobar, the 

 northernmost of this group. Tillangchong and Teressa, which are about 40 miles 

 a])art, are each distant some GO miles from Car Nicoljar, and from this latter Caraorta 

 harbour, whicli lies in the middle of the four central islands, Xancowry, Camorta, 

 Katchall, and Trinkutt, is distant about 90 miles. From Katchall to the Little 

 !Nicobar is about 3.5 miles. The Little and Great Iv^icobar together are some 50 miles 

 in length, and between 60 and 70 miles south-east of the latter, we come to Pulo 

 "Way, one of the small islands lying off Acheen Head, the north-westerly point of 

 Sumatra." Viewed on the map, therefore, these islands form an ii-regular band, 

 connecting Cape Ifegrais, the southern termination of the Arakan range, with 

 Sumatra, and this deduction is doubtless true ; but an examination of the Fauna of 

 these islands indicates that such connexion must have been a remote one, "since not 

 only are almost all the most characteristic species of the Arakan Hills, as we now find 

 them, absent from these islands, but these latter exhibit a great number of distinct 

 and peculiar forms, constituting, where the ornis is concerned, if we except the 

 cosmopolitan waders and swimmers, considerably more than one-third of the whole 

 number known." 



An examination of the Flora of the islands would soem to support more strongly 

 than their oniis, their recent connexion with the mainland of Burma, for Kurz, 

 in referring to the subject, writes (/.c. p. 33) : "In accordance with these indications 

 we find the bulk of tho Andamanese Flora to be Burmese, while not a few purely 

 Malayan species find their northern limits in the Andamans. Among these Malayan 

 forms may be mentioned DracontiDiielum., Irhia, Pelfnphorum, Ternsira-micB Penangiana, 

 Cycas lUiumphii, Lindsa-.a (larullioides, Pti/chosperma KuJdii, Pijparia, etc. Several 

 of these extend also to Tenasserim, a province which must be considered as having 

 a similar extension of the Malay Flora. The 'Flora of the Andamans is not related 

 to that of Hindostan and India proper, a circumstance which can be partly explained 

 by the insular climate and ditl'erence in soil. Dalbfn/ia e»inr(/iiiata, Roxb., which 

 has been identified with D. latifolia (the black wood of the west coast), occurs in 

 the Andamans, according to lloxburgh, and, if so, it is the only example of a purely 

 Indian tree found in the island." In seeking a solution for the apparently more 

 highly differentiated condition of the Andaman ornis, than the Andaman flora, it 

 seems not improbable that a smaller amount of variation satisfies a zoologist, who 

 is searching for new species, than a botanist ; or else that animals more rapidly 

 accommodate themselves to surrounding conditions than plants. Be this as it may, 

 the Flora clearly supports tho former connexion of the islands and the mainland, 

 which is suggested by their physical disposition and arrangement. The climate of 

 the Andamans is thus sketched by Mr. H. F. Blanford {I.e. p. 31) : " The temperature 

 of the Andamans, as might bo expected in the case of tropical islands, is veiy 

 uniform ; the coolest mouth (January) has a mean temperature of 78°-9 ; the 

 warmest month (April) one of 83'--9, a difference of only 4°. The highest and 

 lowest temperatures recorded during the six years 18G8-73 were 96" and 67° 

 respectively, and tho absolute range during the period has therefore not exceeded 

 29°. In most months of the year the average daily range is from 8° to 10°." 



This mild cliuiatc doubtless renders it possible for the inhabitants to exist in the 

 state of ab.solute nature and nudity that they do; but taken in connexion with the 

 high rate of infant mortality, it shows the privations to which they are exposed. For 

 example, if any trust can be jilaccd in the slender data available, it would seem as if 

 the rate of infant mortality under three years along the coast of Burma bore an 



