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LITTLE NICOBAR AND PULO MILO 



of information that one seems to obtain everywhere but in 

 Kar Nicobar and Chaura. The name of the island they 

 gave as Pulo Panjang (Ma/a_y = 'Long Island) ; it is called "Ong" 

 in their own language; among themselves the Nicobarese do 

 not employ the names familiar to us.* 



Little Nicobar, the second largest island of the Archipelago, 

 has an area of 58 square miles. It is broken up into hilly 

 ranges, the highest summits being Mount Deoban, 1428 feet, 

 near the centre of the island, and Empress Peak, 1420 feet, at 

 the north-east corner. 



The bed rock is a calcareous sandstone, easily disintegrated, 

 and overlaid by a deep soil capable of sustaining a rich and 

 varied vegetation. The hills are thickly wooded from base to 

 summit, and there are no grassy spaces like those found on 

 the northern islands. 



The nature of the forest varies according to position and 

 soil. In the beach forest, Pandanus larum and P. odoratissimtis, 

 Hibiscus tiliaceus, Barringtonia speciosa, Terminalia catappa, 

 and CalophylliiDL inophyllum, are extremely plentiful ; in the 

 littoral forest of the level inlets, Mimusops littoralis, Calophyllum 

 spectabile (canoe wood), and Eugenias, are the best represented 

 species ; while palms {Ptychoraphis migusta and Areca catechii) 

 and cane-brakes are common in the moister parts. The high 

 forest of the hills contains fine specimens of Terminalia procera, 

 C. spectabile, Myristica irya, Artocarpus lakoocha, and Garcinia 

 speciosa. No Dipterocarpus trees occur. 



The population of Little Nicobar and Pulo Milo is 6^ : in 



