﻿A.A.JL. 



A SHORT DESCRIPTION OF CARNICOBAR, 



BY MR. G. HAMILTON. 



COMMUNICATED BY MR. ZOFFANY. 



THE island, of which I propose to give a succinct 

 account, is the northernmost of that cluster in the 

 Bay of Bengal, which goes by the name of t\\z<Nicobars. 

 It is low, of a round figure, about fort}' miles rn cir- 

 cumference, and appears at a distance as if entirely co- 

 vered with trees : however, there are several wel] 

 cleared and delightful spots upon it. The soil is a 

 black kind of clay, and marshy. It produces in great 

 abundance, and with little care, most of the tropical 

 fruits, such as pine-apples, plantains, papayas, cocoa- 

 nuts, and areca-nuts ; also excellent yams, and a root 

 called cachu. The only four-footed animals upon the 

 island are hogs, dogs, large rats, and an animal of the 

 lizard kiad, but large, called by the natives tolonam; 

 these frequently carry off fowls and chickens. The 

 only kind of poultry are hens, and those not in great 

 plenty. There are abundance of snakes, of many 

 different kinds ; and the inhabitants frequently die of 

 their bites. The timber upon the island is of many 

 sorts, in great plenty, and some of it remarkably large, 

 affording excellent materials ior building or repairing 

 ships. 



The natives are low in stature, bur very well made, 

 and surprizingly active and strong; they are copper- 

 coloured, and their features have a cast of the Malay, 

 quite the reverse of elegant. The women, in par- 

 ticular, are extremely ugly. The men cut their hair 

 short, and the women have their heads shaved quite 

 bare, and wear no covering but a short petticoat, made 

 of a sort of rush or dry grass, which reaches halfway 

 down the thigh. This grass is not interwoven, but 

 hangs round the person something like the thatching 

 of a house. Such of them as have received presents 



