Dread of Annexation of the Natives. 15 



place themselves under the protection of the British Crown. 

 This information, however, seems to be inaccurate, in so far 

 as it professes to describe the conduct of the native chiefs. 

 The inhabitants, it is true, hoist any flag given to them, be- 

 cause they are fond of imitating European customs, and by 

 so doing believe they secure themselves against the pretensions 

 of other nations ; but there is nothing they so much di^ead 

 as a regular occupation of the islands, and on every appearance 

 of a war-ship are forthwith filled with alarm lest they should 

 be about to be deprived of their liberty, and — their cocoa- 

 nuts. Indeed they have a sa}ang widely diffused among 

 them, probably through the craft of some smart chiefs, that 

 whenever a European should settle among them all the 

 cocoa-nuts will drop from the trees, and they will thus see 

 themselves deprived for ever of their most important means of 

 subsistence. It is, on the contrary, more probable that the 

 English ship-captains, who trade with these islands in order 

 the better to secm^e their highly profitable trade in cocoa- 

 nuts, made some propositions to the East Indian Government 

 to take possession of this important group, by a similar pro- 

 cedure as that by which the Andaman islands were annexed 

 somewhat later. 



Since the unsuccessful attempt at the end of last century 

 to extend Austrian commerce with the Indies and the coast 

 of Africa, by founding a few colonies in those places, no 

 vessel sailing under the Austrian flag had again visited the 

 Nicobar Islands, and accordingly, on the dispatch of an 



