218 NICOBAR ISLANDS AND ABORIGINES 



The hair of the head is very luxuriant, and of all varieties 

 between wavy and curly, but is not crisp or frizzly to any degree. 

 No hair grows on the face, or on the body, save about the arm- 

 pits, etc. 



The outline of the face is an oblong rectangle, and the fore- 

 head is somewhat retreating, but occasionally high and rounded, 

 though narrow ; the supraciliary arch is prominent, but the eye- 

 brows are light. The eyes, with black pupils, are both oblique 

 and horizontal, and when the latter, are often accompanied by 

 the Mongolian fold, which occurs most frequently among the 

 women. 



The nose is broad and flattened, with rounded tip and rather 

 rounded nostrils, the plane of which is upward. It is generally 

 of medium size and straight, but now and again has a pronounced 

 bridge, or a slightly concave outline. 



The cheekbones and zygomatic arch are prominent, and a 

 degree of prognathism is prevalent. The teeth are large, irregular, 

 and discoloured, and project outwards. The mouth is large, the 

 lips thick, with the upper very curved from centre to ends ; they 

 are generally closed. The lower jaw is commonly large and 

 heav\-, and the chin is pointed, as the bones converge directly 

 from the basal angle. The ears lie close to the head, and are 

 hidden by the hair, but the lobes are much distorted with plugs 

 of wood. 



The huts in which the Shom Pen dwell, although always 

 built on piles, show considerable differences, and vary from a 

 well-built floor with a carefully constructed roof of palm leaf 

 attap, to a rough platform often placed against the side of a tree 

 and sheltered by two or three palm branches fastened to the 

 corners.* 



They are said to possess gardens enclosed in zigzag fences, 

 where the)' cultivate bananas, yams, and other tubers. The 



* " Those that are of a permanent character sometimes partake of the same 

 bee-hive form which commonly marks the dwelHngs of the coast people, being 

 in like manner raised on posts 6 or 8 feet above the ground." — E. H. Man, 

 Jour. Aiithrop. Inst., vol. xv. 



