1846.] Notice of the Nicobar Islands. 365 



quality. The genuine amber is sold very dear at Penang. The Chinese 

 and Burmese use it for medicinal purposes. 



The trepan, or bichoo-de-mar, is a leech-like animal, from fifteen to 

 twenty inches long, to four or five inches broad. Some are of a reddish- 

 brown, and some of a dark-brown colour. These animals lay in the sand or 

 coral rocks, without shewing any appearance of animation. The Malays 

 have two ways to catch them ; first by spearing, and second when the 

 water is not too deep, by diving and taking them with their hands. The 

 Malays are, I think, the only people who prepare the trepan. They 

 start for the Nicobar Islands in November and December, and remain there 

 till the end of April. The way of preparing these leeches for the market, 

 is to boil and dry them in the sun or at the fire : they are then packed up 

 with lime, brought to Penang, and sold to the Chinamen, who are the 

 only people, I think, fond of that delicacy. The price varies according 

 to the quality ; some trepans are sold at the rate of thirty dollars 

 per pecul, some at a lower price. The Chinese alone have the skill to 

 find out a difference between the various kinds of trepans. A Malay 

 boat made last year, fifteen hundred dollars by merely collecting trepans. 



Having been in the different islands for a short period of time only, I 

 ^ould not ascertain what are the different species of trees growing there, 

 but judging by those I saw, I think they are, with a few exceptions, 

 cf the same species as those growing at Penang ; the dammer tree parti- 

 cularly, is very common. The overseer employed by the Danes at Little 

 Nicobar, says, that teak is found on the island, but I am inclined 

 to believe that it is a mistake. 



The soil on the sea-shore of the Nicobars is sand, coral, lime, and 

 vegetable mould, more or less thick. The hills are red clay, as the 

 Penang hills : the rocks are limestone, sandstone, clay and slate. As 

 rain seldom falls in the months of December, January, February, and 

 March, I do not know how far the plantation of spices would suc- 

 ceed. 



When at Nicobar, I collected different species of birds which were 

 sent to the Calcutta museum. I saw at Katchall and at Little Nicobar 

 monkies of the species Macacus cynomolgus. The natives told me that 

 several species of snakes were found in the islands, some being very 

 venomous. The boa constrictor is found also in the islands, particularly 

 at Teressa. 



