AN OLD ACCOUNT OF KAR NICOBAR 279 



of the chamoLTOps,* and they contained many varieties of 

 amber f for sale. There were some pieces of one or two 

 drachms weight, and they were wrapped in leaves, among them 

 one kind very much resembling benzoin but not having the 

 same odour. As much as I could make out from the interpreter, 

 this piece, like all the other pieces, had been thrown on shore 

 by the sea; it seemed to have been burnt at one end. J The 

 payment for these articles was mostly made in tobacco or blue 

 linen. M}' curiosity and longing to see the country were very 

 great, but the time passed with necessary arrangements in 

 reference to the ship and also in talking to the natives of 

 Nacquebar. At last, at 4 o'clock the captain ordered the boat 

 to be put out, and I set out for the shore, feeling very glad 

 and happy. But on nearing the land we perceived a strong 

 breaking of the waves against the shore. We chose a little 

 bay, which seemed to have sandy banks, because it was guarded 

 on both sides by high cliffs. A big wave seized the boat and 

 threw it with great violence against the shore ; a second bigger 

 wave followed, which filled the boat, broke one of the oars, 

 and some parts of the boat itself, besides terrifying us greatly. 

 I did not want to wait for the third wave to come, but jumped 

 down into the water, which reached up to my waist, in order 

 to escape a greater danger, and all I had taken with me was 

 soaked. 



"The shore was rather steep in the beginning, and there 

 were many little bays, covered with a whitish-yellow sand. 

 The above-mentioned stone cliffs consisted of grey coarse 

 chalkstone. Here and there big pieces of different kinds of 

 corals had been thrown up by the sea, among them one kind 

 which had the appearance of many knife-blades grown together. 



* Probably a Licuala. 



t Ambergris (?) 



I "Ambergris, which is a waxy concretion formed in the intestine of the 

 spenn-whale, is occasionally found on the shores of the Nicobar Islands. At 

 times the carcase of a whale has been found ashore, and on examination a 

 valuable quantity (several hundred rupees worth) of ambergris has been thus 

 obtained." — E. H. Man. 



