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A FEW PARTICULARS RESPECTING THE NICOBAR ISLANDS. 
By the Rev* J. M. Ciiopard, Missionary Apostolic. 
As far as my acquaintance with the natives of those islands 
and their language enabled me to carry on my investigations, 
during a stay of about 2 years amongst them, I do not think 
that the amount of the whole population spread or scattered 
over the Nicobar Archipelago, exceeds the moderate amount 
of 8,000 souls; of whom about 2,000 inhabit Carmcobar. 
Theressa where was 1 settled had a population of about 500 
so ul s * 
Being but slightly acquainted with few of the languages 
of India, I am not able to trace back through that channel the 
origin of the savages of those islands. The shape of their 
body, and particularly the features of the face, incline me to 
believe that they belong rather to the .Hindoo race, than to 
the Burmese or Malayan. The hair is not of a deep but 
rather slight black, the eyes black, the nose aquiline , the 
body well shaped and proportioned ; the stature exceeds that 
of the Burmese and Malays. The Nicobarians are strong 
and capable of carrying very heavy burdens. I have seen'some 
of them carrying without any trouble 200 cocoanuts. I had 
with me a large trunk filled with books which I was hardly 
able to move, one ot the natives, to my great surprise, placed 
it upon his shoulders, and walked a good distance without 
being apparently fatigued. 
All the inhabitants or aborigines belong to the same race. 
In the islands of the south it strikes me that there is some 
mixture of Malay hlood, in those parts too the Malay lan¬ 
guage is very extensively or rather universally known. 
I have much questioned the natives concerning their origin 
and the epoch when their ancestors landed first on those 
shores, but nothing satisfactory upon that important point 
could be obtained. The impression their different stories 
has left upon my mind is that from a very remote period the 
Nicobar Archipelago has been inhabited. It is hardly neces¬ 
sary to notice that their narrations upon that subject ended 
invariably in ridiculous and puerile fables, to which no credit 
can rationally be given. The absence of any monument 
whatever will probably leave the question for ever unsettled. 
The language used by the Nicobarians is polysyllabic, 
abounds in vowels, and its pronunciation is harsh and far 
from being harmonious. After my arrival, when I heard the 
natives speaking, it appeared to me that the sounds formed in 
