220 
many particulars they are similar to the Fijians. The first account of the 
Andaman islanders was that given in ‘ Sinbad the 
though generally regarded only as a fiction, contained many coiTect sUte 
ments g The Andaman canoes were similar to those used by the Fijians, 
especially in the outrigger. Dr. Seemann remarked on the curious legends 
of^ the islanders, of which Mr. Pritchard had given an account, especially 
those relatino- to their own origin. It was interesting to notice that, in _so 
manv leo-ends the original progenitors of man were placed under or near 
sacred trees It was a curious circumstance that, in these legend^y cosmo- 
g 0n “s there wasXays a serpent, in which symbol he considered there was 
l deep meaning. The supreme god of Fiji (Degei) had the shape of a serpent. 
“ Mr. Eeddie observed that the traditions of these lslandejswerevery 
remarkable and he considered it extraordinary that the people should be able 
repeat them to traveller. Such a P^rvalion otour 
Christian legends could not be expected even in London among the common 
people Asto the frequent occurrence of the serpent in those legends, 1 wa 
a verv curious fact. . . . In the constellations of the heavens, which tad been 
triced tot Xniost ancient peoples on the face of the earth, the serpent was 
oneofthc" common emblems, and was to be foundmsevemlparteof 
XXtohabited those Islands, thus showing that the present i^abitonte 
bad deteriorated The invention of such legends, m more ancient tunes, at 
events tended to prove that their inventors must have been greatly superior 
tl"oved baboons. It would be interesting to know somet h >ng o the 
dresent literary qualifications of the people, and how tar such traditions a 
retained among the inhabitants generally . 
u Mr Pritchard in reply said As to the date of the tractions, there 
can no doubt of their antiquity. Different natives without .the 
of collusion, narrate the same traditions in almost the same words, ine 
qLXeT^ SSesXt im^oTed ^espe^y by runaway sailom 
langur ve 
mode of reasoning when certain data are placed before them. 
* Anthropological Review, vol. III. pp. xii xiv. 
