-- Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [Jan. 



We know from a few scanty historical records that the Nico- 

 barese were eager to exchange iron for their own produce, and as their 

 wars with the Andamanese are also alluded to, we are perhaps en- 

 titled to suppose, that the latter obtained their scanty iron imple- 

 ments from the former. The introduction of iron on the Andamans 

 seems, therefore, to be comparatively recent, and iron implements are 

 even now scarce among the aborigines. It is in fact not known whe- 

 ther the use of iron has become general among all the people who 

 inhabit the different islands of the Andaman group. The parts to the 

 west of Port Mouat are said to be populated by particularly wild 

 tribes, which live almost entirely secluded from the rest, and do 

 not allow even the eastern Andamanese to approach their homes. 

 The examination of the Kjbkkenmoddings may also contribute 

 something towards the knowledge of the time at which the Anda- 

 manese became acquainted with iron, though it is, as already 

 alluded to, not very probable that many remains of this metal will be 

 found. However, it may be shewn whether the people ever attempt- 

 ed to supply its wants by the extraction of any other metal, or 

 whether the introduction of iron has followed immediately the 

 stone- age. 



In conclusion, I may remark that the Andamanese seem to 

 be only a portion of a large aboriginal population, which appa- 

 rently inhabited the entire tract of the islands from the most 

 northern point of the Andamans through the Nicobars down to 

 Sumatra and other neighbouring islands. 



The accounts which we have (from Marsden's History of 

 Sumatra, and other works on the subject) of the true aborigines of the 

 southern islands appear to be in many respects also applicable to the , 

 Andamanese. The officers of the Danish Corvette u Galatea" in 1847, 

 tell us, thai an aboriginal tribe inhabits the interior of Great Nicobar. 

 The people of this tribe are spoken of by the Malay Nicobarese 

 as perfect savages of a peculiar dark complexion. It is by no 

 means improbable that these are the brethren of the Andamanese, 

 for we do not need to be surprised in not finding traces of the same 

 aborigines on the Northern Nicobar islands. These are mostly very 

 narrow and their interior to a very large extent deprived of 

 forest. Whether forest trees in these parts did exist, or not, seems 



