257 
3861.] Papers relating to Aborigines of Andaman Islands. 
myself out for a sail north of the harbour, I landed at a place which 
had the appearance of being supplied with fresh water. Though no 
native was in sight, footmarks in the sand assured me they were 
close by ; and in fact we soon observed a party watching us at a dis- 
tance. On re-embarking- I hung up a bunch of plantains brought to 
meet the contingency of our meeting them. The party as we left 
cautiously approached the spot, and when they saw the plantains, 
rushed at them, and apparently in a few seconds left none remaining. 
I may here remark that the plantain appears to be indigenous, but 
in its wild state, the fruit is a mere bag of large seeds, slightly 
covered with glutinous matter. 
5. The general impression conveyed to us by the demeanour of the 
captives was very favorable. They appeared kind to one another, and 
generally when not in the act of attempting escape, very gentle and 
tractable. Tuesday had one of his ribs broken by a Sebundy after 
capture, while being brought in — a piece of wanton cruelty duly 
noticed by me. His comrades at his request scarified him with 
broken glass, and, on being furnished with a cupping lancet, per- 
formed the operation very successfully, to his great relief. If allowed 
they would eat from morning till night. The food they chiefly pre- 
ferred was pig’s flesh, fish, unripe plantains, (which they roast) yams, 
rice and biscuit, — ripe plantains they cared but little for. It was 
observed that whatever they received was honestly divided, though 
the party into whose hands it first fell took care to help himself 
first. Any food remaining at night was carefully packed up to be 
eaten in the morning. 
6. It is a matter of much regret that so very few words of their 
language have been acquired. The restraint under which it was 
necessary to keep them, and want of time, prevented me from devot- 
ing myself to the interesting task of learning something of it. The 
sound of it is not unpleasing to the ear, and it would appear to be 
more regular than the Burmese. We judged it to be polysyllabic, 
but I must confess that our slender vocabulary cannot be appealed 
to with confidence. To acquire' anything like certainty regarding 
it, requires the devotion of much time and patient attention to it. 
7. There is one point of great interest regarding them which 
I must not suffer to pass unnoticed — the question as to whether 
they acknowledge any spiritual power or not ? Colonel Symes 
