Native Dwellings. 1 1 1 



sun than a high, narrow-brimmed, fashionable black silk hat^ 

 to the possession of which the natives of Kar^Nicobar and 

 Nangkauri attach quite an inordinate value. For such an 

 article, in the course of barter, they offer 1600 ripe cocoa- 

 nuts, while for a long piece of wide dark-coloured muslin, in 

 which they are wont to envelope their dead, they will give 

 only 1200 such fruits. But the most characteristic head-gear 

 of the Nicobarians is a bandeau made of dried leaves of the 

 cocoa-nut palm, which gives them quite a picturesque ap- 

 pearance. We saw but few ornaments worn, such as neck- 

 laces, bracelets, &c., only one or two of the younger men 

 having their hands and their necks adorned with massive 

 rings of silver and iron wire. 



The dwellings of the natives are usually round, beehive- 

 shaped huts, resting on a number of stakes of from six to eight 

 feet in height. Simple as is the construction of these huts, 

 it nevertheless, especially on the island of Kar-Nicobar, 

 possesses a certain degree of ornament, we might almost say 

 elegance, while the thatching of dried palm leaves, as also 

 the beams and the walls constructed of reeds [Calamus 

 Rotang\ are a branch of industry which would do honour 

 even to civilized races of the world. The natives usually 

 cower or squat on the ground, or seat themselves upon some 

 cocoa-nut that has chanced to fall, while at night, stretched 

 out upon the flowers shed by the Areca palm, and with their 

 heads elevated by a piece of hard wood, they find anywhere 

 a sufficiently comfortable couch. 



