54 A NOVICE IN THE ANDAMANS 



to land in force — the mission being a peaceful one — 

 until the inhabitants themselves had been consulted. 

 This was done by depositing a peace-offering of hoop- 

 iron and bunches of plantains upon the shore, and then 

 retiring to the boats. When our party saw from the 

 boats that these had been accepted, they landed boldly, 

 and were received with friendliness by all except one 

 old woman. The following morning a party from the 

 island, moved by certain cravings for a higher life, 

 paid a visit to the ship, and finally left on board a 

 small embassy of intrepid spirits to be carried to Port 

 Blair to interview the Chief Commissioner of the 

 Islands. 



I spent my time, while these negotiations were 

 going on, dredging from a cutter with a small hand- 

 dredge, and, among other things, I got some crusta- 

 ceans that were afterwards found to be extremely 

 rare. 



We went back to Port Blair to land the local 

 politicians, and then left for the east coast of India, 

 where the main survey- work of the season lay, touch- 

 ing en ro^tte at the Coco Islands. These are a group 

 of three uninhabited islets lying in the rocky sea 

 between the Andamans and Cape Negrais in Burma. 

 Although, geographically, they appear to belong to 

 the Andamans, yet the fact that they are covered 

 with coconut palms, which are not found — except where 

 they have been planted by European officers — on any 



