254 Papers relating to Aborigines of Andaman Islands. [No. 3, 
15. One of the men captured had a convict’s ticket hung from 
his neck ; this as well as an axe, Juneos, Ac., found on them, had 
been plundered from the convicts on the previous day. 
16. On 16th, Punch, who had been closely guarded by the Naval 
Brigade, managed to give them the slip. Being the most boyish of 
the party, though no boy-he had only been secured with a rope, 
which he bit through in silence during the night ; once that he had 
made a rush in the dark, the sentry might as well have attempted to 
catch a fox as him. The whole Brigade was turned out in an un- 
successful chase after him. 
17. On the 18th, one of the male convicts from the Punjab 
escaped from Viper Island with the woman— a female convict from 
the same quarter— he had espoused. On 24th, a canoe was seen 
passing Viper Isle with an Andamanese in it, having a white garment 
on _it was fired upon, the clothed one being, it was supposed, Punch. 
In the canoe, which the men instantly abandoned, was found a tin 
containing Ghee, which could only have been of the stock of the 
convict who ran away on the 18th. About the same time, distant 
from Viper Island six or seven miles, a very large canoe containing 
eight or ten persons was observed coming round the North Point ol 
the Harbour. Mr. Brown of the Naval Brigade was sent with a 
boat to observe them. Meanwhile looking on with a glass, I dis- 
tinctly saw a party on shore, shooting fish with bows and arrows, 
and taking shell fish, going parallel to the canoe. The shore party 
had one man with white cloth round his head and waist, and t\\ o 
men were painted bright red from head to foot, but otherwise in a 
state of nature. 
18. I observed, as Mr. Brown’s boat approached the party, a 
portion of them, including the white clothed one, who was, I think, 
an Andamanese, disappeared in the jungle. A number, however, 
swam off boldly to the boat, one very distinctly, before he entered 
the water, waving a red cloth. Mr. Brown observed something 
in their motions which led him to distrust them. He caused a shot 
to be fired over them, whereon they made off. The red cloth was 
abandoned by the Aborigine, and has since been identified as the 
upper clothing of the female who ran away on the 18th. 
19. On 29th, the Aborigines who had been taken out for an 
airing attempted to bolt. They violently resisted recapture, hut in- 
effectually. 
