256 Report on the Laccadive Islands. [No. 10, new series. 



climbers are about 583 in number, they climb the trees of the 

 ryots and the Beebee for hire and extract the juice from which 

 sugar is made. 



54. The whole population of the Island is congregated in one 

 spot and live chiefly in detached enclosures forming long sheets of 

 cocoanut leaf hedges, and leaf thatched houses ; the arrangement 

 is to enable the Beebee to guard the better against trespassing on 

 her cocoanut plantations. 



55. In the North and South portions of this village there are 

 head men who have been e'ected by the people and another over 

 these two is elected by themselves and approved by the Beebee of 

 Cannanore. 



56. Whenever proclamations have to be made known to all the 

 people, or they have to be assembled for any work, these " Mop- 

 pans" (head men) are always the persons through whom they are 

 communicated with and as might be expected have considerable 

 influence with them. 



57. Occasionally there have been outbursts in which the usual 

 tyranny of a mob is shown : those who do not answer to the pe- 

 culiar call which is used for assembling them are punished some- 

 times by having their court-yards filled and houses heaped up 

 with wild pine apple brought and flung there by all their neigh- 

 bours, and it is a labor of many days to them to rid themselves of 

 the nuisance, on more serious occasions of public displeasure, the 

 house is looted and pulled down. 



58. The people of Menakoy while at home are as a rule very 

 idle. Active sailors and traders they come home to take their 

 ease, and leaving the women to soak the coir and pick up cocoa- 

 nuts, cowries, &c, they only condescend to bestir themselves when 

 there is a chance of catching massfish ; their physiognomy is not 

 all that of the Malabar Moplahs or that of the Laccadive Island- 

 ers : there appears to me something African in some of them ; 

 having never seen Maldive people I cannot say whether they re- 

 semble them. 



Islanders' property. 



Barque 1 59. It is worthy of note how large a num- 



Bundodies 2 ber of the P eo P le the Beeoee kee P s in some 



Mass boats 8 measure dependent on her. 



Boats 31 



