1-i Mr. do Roepstorff* on the Nicobarese. [Ji.N. 



Andaman Negrito and this tribe are related is very doubtful. The inter- 

 mixture with another element may have been so strong that only a trace 

 remains of the origin. My opinion is that it is a Papuan and not a 

 Negrito tribe, but I hope by further investigations to settle this matter. 



The people of the Nicobars have all black teeth, owing to the chavioa 

 leaf which is chewed together with areca nut and quick shell-lime. The 

 teeth of the natives are however,in the islands of Camorta, Nancowry, Trinkut, 

 Katchall, Great and Little Nicobar, often of an enormous size. A very 

 similar case is reported by Mr. v. Mikludo-Maclay who in the Admiralty 

 Islands found a big-toothed people. His paper is interesting, and it is 

 carefully illustrated.* 



Mr. v. Mikludo-Maclay shows in his illustrations enlarged teeth, 

 mostly of the upper jaw, but he says expressly, " Haufiger waren es die 

 Schneidezahne des Oberkiefers, die vergrossert waren, aber auch nicht selten 

 zeigten die des Unterkiefers dieselbe Eigenthiimlichkeit. 



With the Nicobarese, I find the teeth of the lower jaw more commonly 

 enlarged. Mr. v. Mikludo-Maclay states that these enormous teeth serve 

 as " chewing plates" {kauplatten) and in every word of his description it 

 suits the Nicobarese except in the one that they are a mixed- Malay tribe 

 and the Admiralty- Islanders Melanesians. The teeth of the Nicobarese 

 are white till they begin to eat chavica at the age of six or seven or even 

 before. The enormous development of the teeth begins to show in middle 

 age. They chew quick shell-lime with their areca and chavica, and this 

 produces the phenomenon. Mr. v. Mikludo-Maclay, could not make a 

 collection of their teeth as they would not submit to have them pulled out. 

 Owing to the lucky circumstance that the Nicobarese keep the big teeth 

 they lose, I have been able to make a collection, part of which I beg to 

 present to the Society. Owing to the enormous growth of their teeth the 

 lips in many persons never meet for years till the last big tooth is lost. 



I beg to draw attention to the curious fact that the Nancowry people 

 have wild pigs domesticated. I often wondered why the little pigs born in 

 the villages were striped and marked like the litter of wild sows. This is 

 the explanation. All male pigs that are born in the villages are without 

 fail castrated and the sows are well fed. At night fall all the pigs assem- 

 ble under the house they belong to and are fed by the woman of ths 

 house, but during the day they roam in the jungle. It is during these 

 rambles that they meet the wild boars who are fathers to all the litters in 

 the villages. Although instances have happened that a few pigs have been 

 introduced, this is so rare, that it may be said that it is the wild pig of 

 the Nicobars that lives domesticated. 



* Vide Berliner G-esellschaft fur Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte ; 

 Sitzung von 16 Dec. 1876. 



