46 KAR NICOBAR 



An hour or two later, a large outrigger canoe brought 

 alongside a party of men — some of whom spoke English fairly — 

 to ascertain what we were ; and by the rays of a lantern, we 

 obtained our first glimpse of the Nicobarese, who appeared, 

 with yellow-brown skin, straightish hair, and medium stature, 

 to be somewhat akin to Malays. 



Here was a change indeed, both in place and people. From 

 islands densely jungle-covered to open stretches of grass-land 

 and groves of coco palms : from a little, black-skinned, frizzly- 

 haired race, in an exceedingly low plane of existence, to a brown- 

 complexioned, lank-haired people, of fair height, who are almost 

 semi-civilised, live in good dwellings, cultivate food products, 

 and possess domesticated animals. 



The houses alone were typical of the change of race : those 

 of the Negro peoples — the stock to which the Andamanese 

 belong — are built directly on the ground, while here, among a 

 group of (practically) the Malayan race, the dwellings were 

 universally raised on piles.* 



We landed next morning by wading through the surf, for 

 the sea, though smooth off-shore, was breaking on the 

 beach. 



The shores of the bay rose precipitously from a beach of 

 sand to an average height of 30 feet, and showed plainly the 

 island formation of grey clay, sandstone, and overlying beds 

 of upheaved coral. Here and there, buttresses of sandstone 

 stood out boldly from the softer cliff, which had crumbled 

 away between them. Above, the land ran inward in a level, 

 unbroken stretch. 



We were met almost immediately by Mr V. Solomon, a 

 Christian Madrassi, who fills the positions of meteorological 

 observer, port officer, schoolmaster, and catechist, and acts 

 unofficially as magistrate and amateur doctor. When we had 

 satisfied him that we were not the proverbial filibustering 



• The Semangs, a group of Negritoes in the Malay Peninsula, surrounded by 

 dominant peoples dwelling in pile-buildings, still retain their practice of 

 building huts akin to those of the Andamanese. 



