NATOERE 
409 
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1885 
THE ANDAMAN ISLANDERS 
On the Aboriginal Inhabitants of the Andaman Islands. 
By Edward Horace Man, Assistant Superintendent, 
Andaman and Nicobar Islands, with Report of Re- 
searches into the language of the South Andaman 
Islands, by A. J. Ellis, F.R.S. Reprinted from the 
Fournal of the Anthropological Institute of Great 
Britain and Ireland. (London: Triibner and Co.) 
““ TN considering the habits, customs, and physical 
peculiarities of a savage race, it is important to 
acquire as much information as possible regarding the 
land they inhabit, and also to ascertain the nature and 
extent of the influences exercised by, or resulting from, 
their intercourse with other nationalities.” 
The author of the work from which the above extract 
is quoted has proved himself fully qualified to treat of this 
interesting race of people, among whom he resided for 
four successive years in his capacity of Assistant Super- 
intendent, from the scientific point of view which he has 
so well defined in the foregoing passage. The volume 
before us consists essentially of a series of papers com- 
municated at various times since 18S0 to the Anthropo- 
logical Institute, and now republished, with the sanction 
of the Institute, in a separate form, with an introduction and 
fourteen short appendices. The report on the language 
of the South Andaman Islands concludes the volume, 
and bears a separate title-page indicating that it has 
been drawn up by Mr. A. J. Ellis, F.R.S., from the 
materials furnished by Mr. Man and Lieut. R. C. Temple, 
of the Bengal Staff Corps. 
The Andaman Islands consist of a group situated in 
the Bay of Bengal between the roth and r4th parallels of 
N. latitude, and comprise Great and Little Andaman, the 
former consisting of North, Middle, and South Andaman, 
together with the Archipelago, Interview, Rutland, and 
many other small islets. The entire area of the islands 
is estimated at about 2508 square miles, of which about 
2000 square miles are comprised in Great Andaman. 
Some pages of the introduction are devoted to a descrip- 
tion of the physical features, climate, and scenery, the 
author calling special attention to the numerous fine 
harbours which offer safe anchorage during all seasons. 
With respect to the population, Mr. Man estimates the 
total number of the aborigines of Great Andaman as 
probably about 2coo, and of those inhabiting Little Anda- 
man 1000 to 1500; the aggregate population of all races 
is about 15,000, nearly four-fifths of this number being 
made up of the convicts inhabiting the penal settlement. 
A succinct history of the settlement is given, from which 
it appears that the modern history of the Andamans dates 
from 1857, although a previous attempt to found a penal 
station had been made by the Honorable East India 
Company, but this was abandoned in 1796 on account of 
the high death-rate. 
The author recognises eight distinct tribes of aboriginal 
inhabitants in Great Andaman and one in Little Anda- 
man. The natives with which the officers in charge of the 
station at first came into contact displayed much hostility 
and considerably harassed the operations of the working 
VOL. XXxII.—NO. 827 
parties; but improvements have gradually been effected 
in the relationship between the aborigines and the settlers 
chiefly through the establishment of Government homes, 
and now, as Mr. Man states in a passage quoted from 
Dr. Day, “the convicts are left unmolested, the imple- 
ments of agriculture are not stolen, the fishing stakes are 
left undisturbed, the gardens are no longer pillaged, run- 
away convicts have been recaptured, and shipwrecked 
sailors assisted.” The author, who had charge of one of 
the homes, also states that these “have effected good in 
bringing together members of the various tribes, between 
whom the way has thus been paved for intermarriages, 
which were of course formerly of rare occurrence ; tribal 
feuds have also here been amicably arranged, while, 
through visits paid to Port Blair and other homes by 
members of all the Great Andaman tribes, as well as by 
our visits in the station steamer to the more distant 
encampments, the knowledge of our power, resources, 
and kindly intentions has spread throughout their re- 
spective territories.” The aboriginal inhabitants of Little 
Andaman are, however, still unreclaimed, and all attempts 
to civilise them have hitherto failed; their hostility 
towards strangers is such that any persons unfortuate 
enough to be cast on their shores would be as ruthlessly 
slaughtered now as at any period prior to our annexation 
of the islands. 
The effect of the contact with civilisation upon those 
more friendly tribes who have accepted the advantages 
offered by the homes is however similar to that which 
invariably results from all such attempts :—“in propor- 
tion as they gain in intelligence and tractability, the more 
fat and indolent do they become, and, having no incentive 
towards exertion, frequently lose in great measure their 
quondam skill in hunting.” Still more serious is the 
moral deterioration which has taken place through con- 
tact with the convict population, and Mr. Man is careful 
to point out that his observations have been confined to 
those primitive communities which have not yet had time 
to be affected by the virtues and vices of modern civilisa- 
tion. One interesting point which has been brought out by 
an attempt to educate the native children is that up to the 
age of ten or eleven they are as intelligent and can learn 
as well as the children of civilised races, but after this 
age no further progress is possible. This feature in the 
mental evolution of savage races has, if we remember 
correctly, been observed in the case of many other un- 
civilised tribes. 
In the succeeding portions of the volume we have an 
immense amount of detailed information upon all the 
points which are likely to be of value to the anthro- 
pologist. With regard to the vexed question of the 
origin of the race, Mr. Man considers that the natives are 
the direct descendants of the prehistoric inhabitants, that 
they all belong to the same race, and that the tribal dif- 
ferences are the effects of isolation by the natural barriers 
of the country and the constitutional jealousies and hos- 
tilities which formerly prevented the tribes from living on 
amicable terms with each other. Ethnologically the 
author regards these people as Negritos, and “racial 
affinity—if there be any—may possibly some day be 
found to exist between them and the Semangs of the 
Malayan Peninsula, or the Aétas of the Philippine 
Islands.” 
7, 
