THE ABBOTT COLLECTION FROM THE ANDAMAN 



ISLANDS. 



By Lieut. W. E. Safford, IT. S. N. 



The Andaman Archipelago is a small group of densely wooded 

 islands about 1,760 square miles in area, situated in the Bay of Bengal 

 near the meridian of 93° east longitude and between the tenth and 

 fifteenth parallels of north latitude. The group lies about ISO miles 

 southwest of Cape Negrais, Burma, and is separated from the Nicobar 

 Islands, lying to the southward, by a channel 60 miles wide. 



Great Andaman, the largest and most important member of the 

 group, is about 140 miles long. Though apparently a single island, 

 it is divided by narrow channels, or creeks, into several parts, the 

 principal of which are known as North Andaman, Middle Andaman, 

 and South Andaman. A short distance to the eastward of South 

 Andaman lies a group of islands known as the "Archipelago;" to the 

 southward, separated from South Andaman by MacPherson Strait, is 

 Rutland Island; and south of this are Cinque Islands. 



Nareondam and Barren Islands are outlying volcanic islets, the 

 latter situated about 45 sea miles east of the northern part of the 

 " Archipelago," and between Great Andaman and the Nicobar group 

 lies Little Andaman. 



Dr. W. L. Abbott, accompanied by Mr. C. Boden Kloss, visited 

 the Andamans in January, 1001, collecting objects of ethnological 

 interest, together with specimens of mammals, birds, and reptiles. 

 He first touched at Barren Island, which he found overrun with 

 goats, descendants of animals left there by the English officials of 

 Port Blair. Forests have spread over the outer slopes of the rolcano, 

 which forms the island, and the slopes of the crater are partially 

 covered with jungle. The cone in its interior and the lava streams on 

 the floor are still devoid of vegetation. The island is uninhabited. 

 After collecting specimens of rodents and of birds on Barren Island 

 he proceeded to the " Archipelago, " dropping anchor in Kwantung 

 Straits near Henry Lawrence Island. 



At Port Blair, on South Andaman, where the English have a convict 

 settlement, and a " refuge house" for the benefit of shipwrecked sailors, 

 he saw the native Andamanese for the first time. In a letter accom- 



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