A SURVEY SEASON IN THE NICOBAR ISLANDS. 
975 
The two painted shields {Henlakoi) are used in curing cases of sickness 
wliich according to the Nicobarese is the result of being ‘possessed ’ an evil 
spirit. In the majority of cases the scenes portrayed on these boards are paint- 
ed in a series of parallel rows, as in the case of the left hand example. The upper 
iwrtion of the shield is adorned with a large central figure of the Creator, usually 
portrayed as a European, dressed in coat and trousers or a skirt-like garment, 
possibly intended for a cassock, and a wide-brimmed hat. Occasionally he 
carries an umbrella. This figure is an midoubted survival of missionary teach- 
ing and is only found on boards painted in the central group of islands. 
Around this figure are sho^vn most of the necessary household imple- 
ments, water-pots, fishing-spears, knives, etc., emblems of headmanship, 
and almost invariably a table covered with a table cloth and furnished 
with all necessary materials, such as bottles and glasses, for a drunken 
debauch — the Nicobarese ideal of a really good time and termed by him 
“makmg Christmas.” Below this there is usually a row of men and women danc- 
ing and then follows a picture of a native hut with aU the domestic animals, 
a cow, a pig, and a hen, and on some boards a native canoe : in the hentakoi in 
the photograph there is a perfectly recognisable Imperial Pigeon, Carpophaga 
cenea iiisularis, with its dark body, wings and tail and pale gray head and neck. 
The bottom row of all comprises the sea and all that is therem. Among the ani- 
mals portrayed here one can recognise a sting-ray, a shark, a crocodile, a dugong, 
a gar-fish and a Triacanthus, showing that the Nicobarese are well-acquainted 
with these animals, and the mclusion of the last two among the other dangerous 
animals further indicates that these natives are aware of the poisonous character 
■of the dorsal spine of the Triacanthus and the possibility of injury being inflicted 
by the gar-fish when it leaps out of the sea. Such knowledge, however, is not 
surprismg when one considers how much of their time is spent either on the reefs 
or in their canoes when fishing. 
Almost the only means of communication between villages is by water, 
though occasionally one finds a narrow path cut and kept open though the jmigle 
in order to save a long detour round the coast. The native canoe, of which there 
is only one type in use though the size may vary very considerably, is shaped 
and hollowed out by hand from the trmik of a tree. Although the shaping is 
-done entirely by eye, it is extraordmary how graceful the lines are. When 
the cutting out process is complete, the canoe is first siuik in the sea and 
left to soak and then finally both inside and outside are burnt and any 
cracks stopped up by means of rag and crude tar. Finally a long straight 
beam of wood is fixed as an outrigger by means of two short bamboos, and planks 
or short lengths of bamboo are lashed on to form seats. A mast and light sail 
are sometimes used if the wmd is favourable, in which case the mast is stepped 
on one of the thwarts, but more often the canoe is propelled by paddles or, when 
in shallow water, by means of a pole. Li addition to the ordinary canoes a vil- 
lage may possess a large ceremonial canoe, capable of seating eight or ten peo- 
ple, and on festival days these are decorated with short bamboo uprights hung 
with flags and bunting while the occupants dress themselves up in top-hats or 
other types of head-gear made specially for the occasion. The canoes when 
properly managed are comparatively stable craft, but they are by no means 
uncapsizable, as Boden Kloss states, as we learnt to our cost on one occasion. 
A party of five of us had gone up Alligator creek and on om return, when near 
the mouth, a pigeon was shot and fell into the water just inside the fringe of 
mangi’oves. In his keeimess to retrieve the carcase our Navigating Officer 
essayed to go over board after it, and stepping on the edge of the canoe 
completely capsized the craft and all its contents ! Fortunately the water 
was shallow and we managed to bale out the water and retrieve various object from 
the muddy bed of the creek. Had we knovm at the time, what we subsequently 
learnt from the natives, that crocodiles are by no means uncommon in 
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