Traces of early Portuguese Settlements. 53 



tentions of an Eewee. One constantly sees fruit, tobacco, or 

 betel-leaves, prepared with pearl-lime, strewed in small por- 

 tions at various spots in the interiors of the huts, or suspend- 

 ed on the bamboo ladders by which they are entered, the 

 object being to propitiate the Eewee in the event of his 

 being hungry on his arrival ! In one of the abandoned huts we 

 discovered a figure resembling a cat, rudely carved in wood, 

 before which the natives had placed tobacco and cocoa-nuts ; 

 almost all these figures were besmeared with soot, and 

 daubed with some red pigment, and their abdomens hung 

 with long pendent dried palm-leaves. 



Not one of the natives at Enuang understood English. 

 Only a couple of old men spoke a few words of Portuguese, 

 of which they were not a little conceited. The Portuguese, 

 in the 17th and 18th centuries, seem to have been the first 

 Em'opean nations that had any commercial dealings with 

 the Nicobar islanders. A number of words of their language, 

 all referring to objects of civilization, and but little corrupted 

 from the Portuguese, such for instance as "pang" (for pan, 

 the Portuguese for bread), " zapato" (shoe)," cuchillo" (knife), 

 and so forth, are evidences of this. The natives here seemed 

 to us yet more hideous than those of Kar-Nicobar, especially 

 as the everlasting betel-chewing had disfigui-ed their mouths 

 in the most shocking manner. It is however incorrect to 

 allege, as has been the case hitherto, that they avail them- 

 selves of a particular substance mth which to discolour the 

 teeth, and wliich it was supposed induced this fi'ightful dis- 



