1876.] F. A. de EoepstorfE — Oji the IiiJiaBitants of the Nicobars. 145 



has brought a tale of such an inland tribe. This alone would make it very 

 improbable that such a tribe did exist, but it appeared to me that there was 

 also the objection to this tale, that they miist necessarily live near the 

 fresh water streams and every one of these have been visited by the coast 

 jDeojile. They were called Jaruwallahs, which is a Hindustani word for 

 sweej)er. I never for a single moment believed in this tribe and it turned 

 out to be a fable. In later reports the name was changed to Jarudawad- 

 dahs, this being simply an Andamanese dress for their old name. 



The district in which it was supposed that this fabulous inland tribe 

 lived was shifted constantly and I began to beheve that the whole affair 

 was an invention, until at last the matter was inveS'tigated by Mr. Tuson, 

 who told me that there was a Httle tribe, not friendly to our Andamanese, 

 which lived on the southern sea-border of S. Andaman. Thus the theory 

 of an inland Andamanese tribe of Nigritos was exploded. 



At Great Nicobar, on the other hand, it was quite certain that one 

 or several inland tribes existed,, and I became quite convinced from my 

 experience at the Andamans that whatever sort of people they were, they 

 must live in a different way from our Andamanese, who yet Hve on the 

 Kjokkenmioddinge stage. Then, in 1872, I was visited at Nancowry by 

 some men of the coast people from Great Nicobar. Among them was a 

 youth who had been, so they assured me, one of the inland tribe and had 

 as a little boy come to the coast, where he had remained. . At tianes he still 

 met his mother in the jungle but did not intend to return to his people. 



This Shombong,* so these people are called, was fairer than the other 

 men and had small Mongolian eyes. He had quite a different appearance 

 from his friends and reminded me at once of the people of Schowra, a little 

 island to the N. W. of Nancowry. The inhabitants of Scho^vl■a are also 

 in a very peculiar isolated position, on which I will later on have more to 

 say. This Shombong knew a httle of the language of his tribe, and \vith a 

 great amount of coaxing I got him to give me a few words. It was, however, 

 getting dark and he was very frightened, so I had to let him go and thus 

 I lost a chance of learning what I was so anxious to know. In a short 

 vocabulary of mine of the dialects of these islands, I mentioned this strange 

 visitor and what my conclusions were, but as the work was printed for official 

 circulation the fact did not gain much publicity. It will be understood that 

 I was anxious to visit the Great Nicobar and see these people myself. 

 As there is the possibility of my not coming here again on duty, this one 

 term was likely to be my last chance, and although I would not wish to 

 visit these islands again, yet I should have left them with regret if I had 

 not solved the mystery that was hanging about these inland tribes. I 



* Shorn means tribe, c. (/., Shoiu Pu = Cur NicoLuiian. 



