186 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [Nov. 



tin's process, recently carried out, were very apparent on the forehead 

 of one of the females. These marks are also distinguishable in the 

 photographs. Their custom is to plaster some mud over the wound, 

 after the operation is completed to their satisfaction. 



" I mentioned that in their wild state this class of people scorn ordi- 

 nary clothing. But for the sake of decency, and to meet the require- 

 ments of a more polished civilization than they themselves had any 

 knowledge of, they were, on leaving their homes, required to wear 

 clothes; — a suit of blue serge being supplied to each of them. At 

 first, doubtless, this clothing was irksome to them ; but it was curious 

 to see how quickly they seemed to accustom themselves to it, and 

 indeed how timid they became when told to undress and bathe in the 

 tank. This modesty they could not possibly have had an inkling of, a 

 month before. But now that they were in the presence of people who 

 were always scrupulously clothed, they could, by their remarkably 

 quick powers of perception, at once see that a something peculiar and 

 undignified was implied in openly appearing without clothes. It was 

 with some reluctance that they undressed in our presence ; even 

 although the women had, under their clothes, their ordinary amount 

 of leafy covering over the Mons Veneris. 



" At the studio of Messrs. Sache and Westfield, where several gentle- 

 men — strangers to the Andamanese, were present when the photographs 

 were being taken, — we encountered positive difficulty, in inducing 

 them to group themselves, stripped of their European clothes. That 

 difficulty overcome, however, it was remarkable to observe how quickly 

 they appreciated the fact that they were required to keep steady, and 

 how willingly they did the best they could, when undergoing an ordeal, 

 which is disagreeable even to those whose vanity it is pleasing. 



" These good people — our Andamanese friends — went about with 

 Mr. Homfray, systematically sight-seeing in Calcutta. They also went 

 to Barrackpore and were much pleased at seeing the wild animals there 

 in the Park. When anything particularly excited their wonder or delight 

 they danced and laughed heartily, — calling on their companions to do 

 likewise, — which injunction was at once impetuously acted up to by the 

 whole party ; nothing delighted them more than seeing themselves in 

 I glass ; and those who witnessed it, will not easily forget the absurdity 

 of the s<'('ii<-. when BeerSla, alias Louisa— a very solid representative of 



