TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION H. 1229 
from the inhabitants of the other islands and of the villages on their own sea- 
board, who are of Malay origin, and by whom they are called ‘Shom Pen’ (‘Shom’ 
denoting ‘tribe,’ and ‘ Pen’ being the tribal designation). ; 
It appears certain that they are the descendants of a very ancient aboriginal 
population of Mongolian origin. The first mention that we find of them is from 
the pen of Pastor Rosen, a Danish missionary, who, while resident at the Nicobar 
Islands between the years 1831-84, spoke of them, from hearsay, as in much the 
same degraded condition as we find them at the present day. He said that ‘ they 
wear no clothes, possess no houses, live like animals in the depths of the forests, 
and shun the sight of men, never leaving their lairs except to search for food, 
which they sometimes steal from such of the coast huts as are temporarily vacated, 
or occupied only by a few aged or infirm folk whom they are able to surprise or 
overpower.’ 
In 1876 and 1881 a few members of this tribe living near the north-east of 
Great Nicobar were seen by the late Mr. de Réepstorff, who in the latter year 
accompanied Colonel T. Cadell, V.C., Chief Commissioner of the Andamans and 
Nicobars, in a visit to their encampments. During the last eighteen months Mr. 
E. H. Man, while in charge of the Nicobar Islands, has paid six visits to Great 
Nicobar, on four of which he succeeded in seeing and photographing parties of this 
tribe, both near Ganges Harbour and on the west coast. 
On the first of these occasions (viz., February 1884) two youths, aged about 
eighteen and fourteen years respectively, were persuaded to leave their friends for 
seven days, at the end of which they were conveyed back from Nancowry in the 
settlement steamer. During their visit. to Mr. Man they proved themselves tract- 
able and timid, and submitted with a good grace to ablutions which were found 
very necessary. Although this is the first recorded instance of a Pen haying 
ventured from his savage haunts, these lads exhibited the Oriental characteristie 
absence of wonderment at all the novel surroundings and tokens of civilisation in 
the Government settlement. They were fair specimens of their race, the members 
of which are found to be usually well nourished, of good physique, and, while 
young, favoured with pleasant features. The height of the males appears to range 
between 5 feet 2 inches and 5 feet 8 inches; their skin is fairer than that of the 
generality of the coast people, who, on their part, are less dark than the Malay ; 
the hands and feet seem to be decidedly large, and bear evidence of the rough work 
of their daily lives; the hair, which is straight, is commonly worn uncut and un- 
kempt, and, as habits of cleanliness are manifestly foreign to their nature, its 
condition can better be imagined than described. 
As a result of their friendly intercourse in recent years with the coast people, 
they have acquired the habit, so universally practised among the latter, of chewing 
the betel-nut (Chavica betle) with or without quicklime, and are consequently 
beginning to be similarly disfigured with black teeth, though not yet to the hideous 
extent common among their more civilised, or, rather, less savage, neighbours. 
They likewise now imitate the latter in respect to clothing, the men adopting the 
narrow loin cloth and the women a small cloth skirt. 
Their dwellings are small, and cannot compare with those of the coast people, 
and are indeed but little, if at all, superior to those of the Negritos in Little 
Andaman, but they more nearly assimilate the former in design as well as mode of 
construction, for they are erected on posts; the floors being raised six or seven feet 
above the ground necessitate the use of ladders. : 
It is impossible within the limits of this abstract to make further mention of 
the dwellings, or to describe the peculiar sack-like cooking vessels of this strange 
race. 
It is, however, worthy of note that the Pen tribes—despite their low state of 
civilisation—are found capable of expressing high numerals; though the terms 
used are distinct, the system is apparently identical with that employed by the 
coast people. 
Mr. Man hopes before long to be able to supplement in many particulars the 
rudimentary information which has hitherto been obtainable regarding the Pen, but 
the task is one of considerable difficulty, for, apart from the dread entertained by 
