1846.] Notice of the Nicobar Islands. 345 



in so many days, and they seldom fail to fulfil their engagement ; they 

 take in advance generally the goods given in barter. 



The Nicobarians are not very expensive in their dress : a small piece 

 of blue cloth, from three to four inches broad, and four or five feet long, 

 tied round their loins, is the covering of a man ; sometimes they encircle 

 their heads and loins with young branches or grass. When the head- 

 men of the villages go on board the vessels, they are more decently clad : 

 they have a black hat or red cap, coat, jacket, pantaloon, &c. The wo- 

 men in opposition to the custom of persons of their sex in other coun- 

 tries, shave their heads, wrap round their loins grass tied with a 

 string, about a cubit broad ; and on great occasions a piece of blue 

 cloth over the grass. When they appear in public, they generally 

 cover their breasts. Men and women use so large a quantity of betel- 

 nuts, lime, and betel leaves, that their teeth are as black as ink ; and the 

 space between them, being filled with that matter, they appear as a solid 

 piece, much like the horn invested in the jaws of the tortoise. 



It is very difficult to have an accurate notion concerning the origin of 

 the Nicobarians. They have projecting cheek-bones, flat visages, flat- 

 tened nose, scanty beard, straight black hair, and Chinese eyes. Their 

 complexion is dark-olive ; they are corpulent, muscular, and well-made ; 

 but their legs are rather short in comparison with the trunk ; the lower 

 extremity being more developed than the upper one. Their general size 

 is from five feet to five feet two inches. But the inhabitants of Chowry 

 are of a darker complexion, more muscular, and have an air of indepen- 

 dence, which is one characteristic mark of the Burmese. I saw some 

 men and women at Teressa belonging to Chowry, and judging by them, 

 the general height of these Islanders must be from five feet five inches to 

 five feet ten inches. Although these people appear to hold some relation 

 to the Malays on account of the resemblance of many of their features, yet 

 the shape of their eyes, their manners, religion, language, and many cha- 

 racteristics are so different, that they must be considered as a particular 

 race. The Malays having not settled there, the Nicobarians have pre- 

 served the pure blood of their ancestors. I am not far from thinking 

 that they belong to the same race of people who formerly lived 

 on the sea-shores of Sumatra. When the Malays settled in the 

 island, they took possession of the whole of the level country, and 

 compelled the Battas, the original inhabitants, who would not mix with 



