176 ANDAMAN ISLANDS AND INHABITANTS 



Andaman are chiefly lime and sandstone, with a good deal of 

 actual coral rock on the east and south coasts ; while occasionally 

 occur outcrops of an igneous nature. At Entry Island and Port 

 Meadows, beds of volcanic origin exist. 



In view of the connection with them, the apparent barrenness 

 of the Arakan Hills goes to show that little may be expected 

 from the Andamans in the way of mineral products. Amongst 

 others, however, discoveries have been made of lignite, and 

 the ores of chromium, copper, iron, and sulphur,* although not 

 in quantities that would pay commercial development. 



It is indubitable, as Kurz has shown,f that the Andamans 

 are now undergoing subsidence ; but there is ample evidence, 

 in the raised coral beaches that fringe the shores, to show that 

 in the immediate past this has been exceeded by elevation. 



The islands have been subjected to earthquakes from time 

 to time. The first recorded took place in August 1868, the 

 next in February 1880, and several slight shocks occurred until 

 December 1881, when a severe earthquake visited the group, 

 made itself felt over a large area of the Bengal Sea and 

 surrounding countries, did much damage to masonr}- at Port 

 Blair, and raised waves 3 feet high, following each other at fifteen- 

 minute intervals for a period of twenty-one hours. Another slight 

 shock was experienced in February 1882. 



The origin of the name Andaman appears to be somewhat 

 doubtful, and it is, of course, a word unknown to the natives. 

 It is, however, very old, and may — as Sir Henry Yule suggests in 

 his Commentary on Marco Polo — perhaps be traced to Ptolemy 

 (who flourished at Alexandria soon after the commencement of 

 the Christian era), and if so, we have by him the first-known 



* Still being deposited at Barren Island. 



+ This conclusion, although in some ways difficult to conceive of — for 

 the Arakan coast to the north, and the Nicobars to the south, are both 

 fringed by raised coral beaches, which show they have recently been elevated 

 — is based principally on the fact that stumps of trees, which grow only 

 above high-water mark, and beyond the reach of salt water, are found in the 

 mangrove swamps and on the seashore. 



