WEAPONS, ORNAMENTS, UTENSILS, ETC. 189 



a host of minor devils, who are self-created ; none of the demons 

 are under the control of Puhiga* 



They make no attempt at trading in the natural products of 

 their islands, and manufacture nothing but the weapons, personal 

 ornaments, implements, and utensils required for their own use. 

 They have some knowledge of pottery, though not of the wheel, 

 and make rude pots, which they ornament with patterns of wavy 

 lines before baking. 



No true musical instruments exist, but a rude sounding- 

 board is constructed, on which they accompany songs by beating 

 with the foot.f 



Tne weapons used in hunting and fishing are bows and spears, 



* In the Jour. Royal Asiatic Soc, 1881, Mr M. V. Portman writes : — 

 " Although traditions of a Creation, a Fall, a Deluge, and a future state 

 have been recorded as extant among the Andamanese, there is reason to 

 believe that these accounts are merely the Christian religion as formerly 

 taught in the Andaman orphanages, and distorted among the natives ; for, while 

 the southern tribes have a legend of a stone house where the Deity was born, 

 the northern tribes, who have not been brought into contact with the Settle- 

 ment, have no such tradition;" but Mr E. H. Man records traditions of a 

 Creation, Fall, and Deluge, obtained from aborigines possessing no knowledge 

 of what had been taught to the few small children at the Orphanage (chiefly 

 reading and writing, sewing, basket work, etc.), and moreover, doubts whether 

 any of the latter were capable of giving an intelligent — if any — account of the 

 views held by Christians on these subjects. 



" The Andamanese traditions do not resemble those of Christians. . . . 

 Savages in other parts of the world," writes Mr Man, "possessed traditions on 

 the same subjects before missionaries or other Christians ever visited them." 



t The pukuta yemnga, a shield-shaped piece of wood, placed with the 

 narrow end in the ground. Andamanese songs are in solos and choruses, the 

 latter invariably sung by both sexes if available, and are accompanied by a 

 dance, which takes place in the evening and at night, in the jungle, when both 

 men and women quite lose themselves in the excitement. 



Specimens of Andamanese songs : — 



(i) " From the country of the Yerewas the moon rose ; it came near ; it was 

 very cold, — I sat down." Chorus. — " I sat down." 



(2) " Maia Poro saw a big turtle in the water, and hit him in the eye. Poro 

 laughed when he hit him in the eye." Chorus. — " Poro laughed when he hit 

 him in the eye." 



(3) " I am cutting the under-part of a canoe's prow. I am cutting a canoe." 

 Chorus. — " I am cutting a canoe." 



— Vide "Andamanese Music," by M. V. Portman, /<?«/-. Royal Asiatic 

 Soc, 1888. 



