294 PROCEEDINGS OF THE COTTESWOLD CLUB 



Barren Island, lying to the N.E. of Port Blair, is verj' 

 nearly extinct, the last eruption having taken place in 

 1789; now only steam arises from its cone, and at 

 the landing-place is found a hot spring, whose temperature 

 in 1884 was no degrees, but it is now cooler. The cone, 

 1015 feet high, rises from a huge basin; at the top 

 there is a crater 76 feet deep, and the floor measures 60 

 feet across. The island, consisting wholly of the walls 

 of the basin, is covered from shore to summit with trees, 

 and as this outer wall is iioo feet high, nothing of the 

 cone can be seen from the shore. 



Before landing it may be as well to learn something of 

 the history of these remarkable Islands, for remarkable 

 they are as regards their inhabitants, both aboriginal and 

 imported, as well as peculiar in regard to the paucity of 

 variety of animal life. 



Mention occurs of the Andamans in the writings of an 

 Arabian historian in the 9th century ; Marco Polo refers 

 to them in the 13th, but not until the time of William III 

 do we find any frequent mention of them, and in all 

 reports the account of the inhal)itants is greatly 

 exaggerated. 



It was not until Capt. Blair and Col. Colel)rook made a 

 survey that we got any trustworthy information. The 

 name of the Islands seems to be of fairlv ancient origin, 

 though a variety of rlerivations have been j)roposed. The 

 opinion of those most capable of judging is in favour of 

 " Hanuman," the monkey god of India, and the Malays 

 indicate the group by the name " Pulo Handuman." 



There is no doul)t that ships frcquentlv called either 

 under stress of weather, or in hopes of doing some trade, 

 but the inhabitants refused to receive them under any 

 conditions whatsoever, and it was not until 1789 that the 

 first settlement at Port Cornw^allis in the North Island 

 was established. This was, however, soon abandoned, as 

 it proved unhealthy, and nothing further was done until 



