278 AN OLD ACCOUNT OF KAR NICOBAR 



eighth part of the whole length of the boat, and to these were 

 tied two other bamboo sticks, which stood out at the two ends ; 

 they were twice as long as the width of the boat, and at the end 

 of these cross sticks another bamboo was fastened, running 

 parallel with the boat, and standing out as much at the front 

 part, as long as the pointed end of the canoe. The smaller boats 

 all had this arrangement, only they had no staff for the flag. 

 There were more than eight men rowing the big boats. Their 

 oars were lancet-shaped as far as the middle, and had a protrud- 

 ing sharp-cornered point. They were thin and smooth, about 6 

 inches wide, the handle was round and short, their whole length 

 being about 4 feet ; they were made of a sort of brownish red 

 wood. 



" Those of the natives that came on board were mostly young, 

 except their captain, who was rather old ; he had received a 

 name from a European captain, who frequently came hither, viz., 

 Makintosh. 



" Their figure is very much like that of the Malays ; they had 

 round heads thickly covered with short coarse hair, a large 

 forehead, round small brown eyes, a flat nose, thick lips and 

 large faces, big teeth red with betel, and thin black beards ; 

 they were of a light brown colour. Their shoulders were large, 

 and they seemed to be muscular, their veins were more promi- 

 nent than is commonly the case with the black, their calves 

 were very much developed, but they were all only of medium 

 stature. Their clothing consisted of a piece of coarse blue 

 linen, about three fingers wide, which was wound several times 

 round the lower part of their body and taken up between the 

 legs ; some of them wore old straw hats. At first sight the 

 expression of their face seemed to be wild, but one soon lost 

 that impression ; they showed few signs of any passion, smiled 

 in drawing their lips up on one side, and when they felt offended 

 they walked away without any sign of anger. The principal 

 articles they brought with them were coconuts. Some of 

 them had little square boxes, the biggest of them being one 

 foot long ; they were made from the sheaths of the young leaves 



