■the Fruit op the Mellorio i$£ 



mourning vititors brings a larg^ pot of toddy. The women fit round the 

 corps, howling and crying, and by turns they go and put their hands on the 

 breail and belly of the deceafed, who is covered v/khftriped cloth; the 

 men are featedat a little diftance, drinking and v inviting all the vifitors to 

 do the fame; endeavouring thus to difpel their grief by. a complete gene« 

 ral intoxication, which never lafts lefs than a'couple of days after the inter- 

 ment. 



The different changes of the moon are productive of great feftivity and 

 mirth among the Nicobarians, when the doors of their huts are decorated 

 with branches of palms and other trees : the intide is alfo adorned with 

 feftoons made of flics of plantain leaves. Their bodies are, in like man- 

 ner, decorated with the fame ornaments ; and the day is fpent in linging and 

 dancing, and eating, and drinking toddy, till they are quite ftupefied. 



The idea of years and months and days is unknown to them, as they^ 

 reckon by moons only, of which they number fourteen, feven to each man-> 

 foon. At the fair feafon, or the beginning of the N. E. monfoon, they 

 fail in large canoes to the Car Nicobars called by them Champaloon. The 

 obj eel: of this voyage is trade; and for cloth, filver coin, iron, tobac- 

 co, and feme other articles, which they obtain f rom Europeans together 

 with fowls, hogs, cocoa and arcca nuts, the produce of their own iHand 6 

 they receive in exchange, canoes, fpears, ambergris, birds neiis, tortoife- 

 fliell, and fo forth. 



Ten or twelve huts form a village. The number of inhaiMtinta.on- any- 

 one of thefc idands dees not exce?d feven or eight hundred. Every village 

 has its Ueud Mun 3 oi Oiptam^is they term him,wiio is geru,ally the oidcfl. Few 



U 2 



