EARTHQUAKES 205 



copper and iron pyrites, finely disseminated through dioritic and 

 serpentine rocks. The possibility of the occurrence of copper ores 

 in the eruptive formation cannot be denied, but no discovery has 

 yet been made which would indicate it. On the other hand, the 

 islands are rich in useful building materials. The sandstone of 

 the southern islands must give excellent working stones ; the 

 plastic clays of the north could, doubtless, be worked into bricks 

 or pottery ; the natives of Chaura largely employ it in their 

 earthenware manufactures. 



Although the islands are generally beyond the sphere of 

 cyclonic disturbances, they have more than once experienced 

 the effect of earthquakes. One of the most remarkable of these 

 is said to have occurred from October 31 to December 5, 1847, 

 when fire is reported to have been seen on one of the mountains 

 of Great Nicobar. Part of the northern coast of the latter, 

 especially in the vicinity of Ganges Harbour, sank beneath the 

 sea, and for long the locality was deserted by the aborigines.* 



On December 1881, an earthquake, felt also at the Andamans 

 and throughout the Bengal Sea generally, caused extensive 

 damage in Kar Nicobar to the coconut groves and huts of the 

 natives. Vents were opened in the sandy soil ; inland, trees 

 were overthrown ; sea-waves broke on the island, and at the 

 village of Mus, water rose into the houses of the Burmese traders^ 

 which stood on platforms 2^ feet high. 



There was another earthquake at Kar Nicobar in November 

 1899, when strong, but not alarming, shocks, lasting ten minutes, 

 were experienced. The last occurred on September 18, 1900, 

 when two heavy and severe shocks, each lasting five minutes, 

 were felt throughout the island, but caused no damage. 



The climate of the Nicobars is more uniform than that of the 

 Andamans, for it is less diversified by wet and dry seasons, heat 

 and cold, and in this respect resembles that of the Malay 

 Peninsula at the same latitude. The prevalence of malaria 

 renders the group unhealthy alike for foreigners and, in certain 

 localities, for the natives, and all the attempts at settlement 



* Vide p. 137. 



