1846.] Notice of the Nicobar Islands. 355 



denied to the other : thus Nancowry is the only island in which paddy 

 can be sown, &c. These restrictions extend not only to planters but 

 affect also tradesmen : for instance, boats are to be built at Nancowry : 

 earthen pots are to be manufactured at Chowry : lime is to be burnt at 

 Car-Nicobar. The Islanders are obliged to have recourse to the above 

 mentioned places for those articles. This practice seems to be the 

 result of a rather sound policy, the object of which is to establish, and 

 keep up an uninterrupted intercourse between the people of those 

 various islands. Who would have suspected the Nicobarians capable of 

 so wise a political institution ! ! ! 



The Great Nicobar is remarkable for the height of its hills, rising 

 in succession, and covered with thick jungle. The inhabitants are few 

 in number, and for their having an almost continuous intercourse with 

 the Malays, some of them are tolerably acquainted with their language. 

 The captain of the Steamer Ganges paid a visit to that island, and 

 having anchored his vessel in the bay on the south-east side of the 

 island, proceeded in his boat to survey the river as far as twenty miles 

 up. The soil appeared to him to be very rich, particularly on the left 

 side. He saw some deserted huts and a few plantations of cocoanuts. 

 In some places the river was very wide, and he never found less 

 than two fathoms of water. He reached a place where there was 

 a fence, about two feet high. A shed was erected inside, but the 

 inmates having, it appears, heard the noise of oars, had all fled : on the 

 fire was ika half-boiled, not in earthen pots, as used by the Nico- 

 barians, but in the broad and thick leaves which surround the betel- 

 nut, made in the shape of a pot. In the same enclosure were also pigs 

 and fowls. 



The interior of this island is inhabited by a race of people distinct 

 from those of the Nicobars. It is said that this tribe is barbarous, and 

 much inclined to warlike excursions to the great annoyance of their 

 neighbours ; they are of a dark complexion, and have curled hair. It 

 is a great pity that we know so little about a people, who having 

 had hitherto no intercourse, nor the least communication with any 

 other race, and being left to their own resources, could give us an idea of 

 what man is when he has no other guide for his conduct, but the 

 dictates of his vitiated nature. This tribe, with a dark complexion and 

 curled hair, whether they are Papawans or Andamans, is a question 



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