12 Mr. de Rdepstorjjf on the Nicobarese. [Jan. 



We heard a shout and found that the two guides were there and a 

 Shom-Beng with them. It was the latter who had shouted. He had a spear 

 in his hand and seemed very much afraid, but after a little talk he threw his 

 spear down, and came at once up to me and seated himself quite close, nearly- 

 hugging me. One look at him sufficed to assure me that I had now come 

 across a specimen of a curly- haired race, Papuan or Negrito. His hair waa 

 bushy and with rather a bend, and was very abundant. It covered the 

 whole surface of his head and was not like the hair of an Andaman Negrito, 

 of the Papuan of New Guinea or of the Negro found in tufts or patches. It 

 had, however, the Papuan quality of being long, longer than the hair of the 

 Andamanese ever is. This hair was, or appeared to be, brownish, interspersed 

 with white, was very coarse and stiff, and gave an exaggerated appearance 

 of size to his head. I beg to enclose a lock of his hair for the examination 

 of the Society. His face was pleasant, especially when smiling, his forehead 

 was high, his eyes were black, his nose well formed and arched, his upper 

 lip was remarkably prominent from the base, his underlip small, his teeth 

 were black but of natural size.* One tooth was loose, but he could not be 

 prevailed on to part with it. His colour was copper-brown and a shade 

 fairer than our Great Nicobar and Camorta guides. His complexion did 

 not at all remind me of the deep shining black of the Andaman Negrito. 

 His name was Koal. He had his private parts tied up, but in such a loose 

 way, that it was evident that the Coast people are right when they assert 

 that the male Shom-Bengs go quite naked in their own haunts. 



I asked to be allowed to go to his place, but he begged of us not to do 

 so, as his wife and three children would be frightened ; he promised, how- 

 ever, that if we would return, he would in the evening follow us to a 

 certain house of the Coast people with his wife and children. As I had got 

 the main point settled, namely, that there is a curly-haired race in the 

 island, we came to terms. He allowed me to cut off some of his hair with 

 a curious grin. The spear he brought with him had a handle with an iron 

 spike ; he gave it me and on it I cut a notch for his height. His height 

 was 5 ft. 3i in. (English measure). 



Half a bundle of tobacco made him very happy and I gave him some 

 handkerchiefs for his wife. We parted on good terms and he said that he 

 would towards evening come with his family and bring presents for me. He 

 promised to bring me their spears, some of their bark-made cloth (celtis ? 

 bark) and some produce of his garden. 



We then went back. The rain had swollen the stream, and where we 

 had before gone dry shod, we had now to go in water, but the satisfaction of 

 having succeeded in seeing a typical specimen of this curious -people made 



* The Coast people have their teeth very much enlarged, see the latter part of this 

 paper. 



