66 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



Of the men present in the Home, several were smoking — that being 

 one of the few accomplishments they have learnt from their contact 

 with civilization. Calcutta polco, which is the Andamanese name for 

 tobacco, is in great demand with them now. After a little prelimi- 

 nary shyness had worn off, they did not hesitate to search our pockets 

 to see if we carried any with ns. 



The simplicity of tbe clothing arrangements of the Andamanese is 

 well known, the elaborate toilets of civilization being represented by a 

 leaf, which is worn by tbe women suspended from a girdle of ratan 

 or pandanus fibre. Sometimes this pandanus fibre is so beaten out as 

 to form a bushy tail. 



Of the various ornaments worn by the women, none seemed more 

 extraordinary tban the skulls of their defunct relatives, festooned with 

 strings of shells, which some of them carried suspended from their necks. 

 (See Plate IY., Pol. Lit. & Antiq.) 



Those who had recently lost relatives were in mourning, which 

 consisted in their being shaved, and covered from head to foot with a 

 uniform coating of white clay. Non -mourners were more or less 

 adorned with red clay. 



Several of tbe men were amusing themselves manipulating, with 

 pieces of string, the puzzles of the cat's cradle. Trivial a circumstance 

 as this at first sight appears to be, it is really one of some importance, 

 as it may be used as evidence in favour of a primitive connexion be- 

 tween the Andamanese and races inhabiting the Malayan Archipelago. 

 Mr. Wallace found the Dyak boys in Borneo more skilful than himself 

 in the mysteries of cat's cradle. He says, regarding this accomplish- 

 ment — " We learn thereby that these people have passed beyond 

 that first stage of savage life in which the struggle for existence 

 absorbs the whole faculties, and in which every thought and idea is 

 connected with war or hunting, or the provision for their immediate 

 necessities." These remarks cannot be applied with the same force to 

 the Andamanese, whose rank in the scale of civilization is lower than 

 that of the Dyaks. 



Mr. Homfray pointed out one old woman who, he said, possessed 

 great influence over the tribe, and acted as arbitrator in all disputes. 

 TJntil the rule was enforced in the Home of making those who came 

 to it give up their bows while remaining there, quarrels not unfre- 

 quently led to two parties being formed, who discharged their arrows 

 at one another even within the walls. A man on either side being 

 struck was the signal for a cessation of hostilities. 



Notwithstanding such outbursts, the Andamanese possess great 

 affection for one another. Almost every one who has written about 

 them has borne witness to this trait in their characters. 



I had proposed for myself one subject upon which to make special 

 inquiries on the spot: this was their method of making flakes of flint 

 and glass, which they had been reported to make use of as lancets. 

 My attention, however, was so taken up by other subjects of interest 

 that I should have forgotten to investigate the point, had it not for- 

 tunately happened that on reaching one of the family groups I 



