In the Andamans and Nicobars Part 14

"In a clearing about 30 yards across, surrounded by jungle, and standing in the shade of a few isolated trees, five huts stood along the bank of a little brook.

"Women and girls in waistcloths, busy preparing food from panda.n.u.s fruit, dropped their work when they caught sight of us, and rushed away for more clothes!

"Pigs, chickens, and dogs wandered about beneath the houses, and the only representative of the stronger s.e.x was a young man, whose activity was much handicapped by a leg swollen with elephantiasis.

"The houses were small structures built on piles, 4 to 6 feet high, with open sides, and roofs of attaps.

"After taking photographs of the village, we returned to the sh.o.r.e, where consolation awaited us in the persons of three Shom Pe[.n] men, who had come in and were detained in Aw.a.n.g's house. Thither we proceeded, and took photographs and measurements of each. They were very docile, and stood like statues before the camera; neither did they object to being measured. We obtained from them a roll of coa.r.s.e cloth--made from the inner bark of a tree,[78] which is stripped from the trunk and pounded--and a rattan basket, giving in return an extra quant.i.ty of red cotton, in token of goodwill, for they had been inclined to bolt when they first heard we were coming.

"In general appearance these men resembled the Nicobarese, but were of slightly darker complexion--muddy-coloured--and physically of more slender build, and leaner: they wore cotton _kissats_, and large wooden ear-distenders.

"Through Aw.a.n.g, who enacted the part of interpreter, we arranged with them to come down the next morning, and bring their whole party, baskets, spears, and more cloth."

"_March_ 19.--We did not shoot for long this morning, for fear of frightening the Shom Pe[.n]; but though we waited about till 10 o'clock, they had not appeared, and we then returned to the _Terrapin_.

"But for flies, which were rather numerous about the village, it was very pleasant lying in the shade of the palms, lazily watching the many b.u.t.terflies which floated about, listening to the cries of oriole, calornis, and sunbird, and often catching glimpses of their brilliant plumage as they flew from tree to tree. In the clear waters of a little stream that flowed behind the village, we could see shoals of fish slowly drifting about, or poising themselves in the shade of the overhanging branches. The mouth of this stream is closed by the coral-reef, but a few small canoes are kept on its surface to carry the natives to the other bank. We were too lazy even to explore its course, but loafed drowsily beneath the coco palms, while

"All round the coast the languid air did swoon, Breathing like one that hath a weary dream,"

until, stirred by prosaic thoughts of breakfast, we returned to the schooner. Hardly had we done so when we caught sight of a string of people walking along the beach, whereupon, gathering together the necessary paraphernalia for an interview, we jumped into a boat and were soon on sh.o.r.e again.

"The party consisted of five men, three women, and three girls--there were no boys or babies in it. They had brought with them several rolls of new bark cloth--pieces about 4 feet by 6 feet--which, when fresh, is much lighter in colour than the old piece we got before; some rattan baskets of various shapes, ear-distenders, and a bundle of spears made of the hard wood of the nibong palm. These spears are about 8 feet long, and half an inch in diameter, tapering towards the b.u.t.t. The makers have grasped the principle of the sail and surgeon's needle, for the points are triangular, with sharp edges; immediately below them, slight barbs, generally six in number, are carved on the shaft.[79]

"In physique, the men were less robust than the coast people, but at the same time were tough and wiry-looking--the lesser chest and arm development being probably accounted for by the absence of paddling exercise, for they own no canoes.

"In person they were somewhat dirty, more markedly in the case of the women, to whose clothes the odour of stale panda.n.u.s-bread clung strongly. All chewed quids of betel, lime, and sireh leaves.

"The teeth of one woman presented a most extraordinary appearance, that at first sight appeared to be a case of macrodontism; the upper row projected outwards at an extreme angle, and, when closely examined, proved to be concreted together by a substance that was apparently a deposit of lime from the ever-renewed quid.

"Their hair, like that of the Nicobarese, varied from wavy to curly, and so slightly did they differ from the coast people that if one did not know who they were, they would pa.s.s, unless carefully examined, for ordinary Nicobarese, so far as appearance and mode of life are concerned.

"In proof of this statement it will suffice if I say that the settlement which--with minds primed by tales of bark-garments and triple-storied, fenced-in huts--we had thought to be a camp of the coast people gathering rattan, was, in truth, the village of this identical party.

"Such a mistake was, under the circ.u.mstances, almost justifiable--their food, utensils for its preparation, cooking-pots, clothing, and domestic animals, were all exactly similar to those of the Nicobarese.

"It would appear, that, from constant intercourse with the sh.o.r.e people, the Shom Pe[.n] have adopted many of their customs, and become possessed of similar property. The leader of this party even spoke a few words of Malay.

"All of them willingly submitted to be photographed and measured, especially when they saw that after the process there was a reward of red cotton, or bra.s.s cartridge cases, to be used as ear-plugs. Such things as they received in this way, or in payment for baskets and other articles, were immediately handed over to the women.

"They seemed to indicate time by pointing to the sun, and by such a method we made them understand that we should pay another visit to their camp on the morrow."

"_March_ 20.--We reached the Shom Pe[.n] village early in the morning, and found its occupants variously engaged--some sitting listlessly about, and others busied in splitting and cleaning the rattan which they trade with the coast people.

"The community was well supplied with food, in the shape of coconuts, bananas, and various tubers, besides possessing a plentiful store of panda.n.u.s fruit. Several young pigs, all obtained from the litters of wild sows, which are chased with a view to capture, were domiciled in cages within the houses.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Shom Pe[.n] Cooking-vessel (Great Nicobar).]

"Princ.i.p.al amongst the articles in use were iron-p.r.o.nged fish-spears, axes, and _daos_, with baskets, of which we purchased a selection; but the most interesting object visible, and one that had been overlooked during our former visit, was an apparatus for preparing the food of panda.n.u.s paste.

"Some 6 inches above a clay hearth on the floor of the huts, a receptacle, about 3 feet by 3 feet by 6 inches, was formed of five sheets of thin green bark. These, two on a side, and the fifth doubled at the bottom to form a trough, were inserted at either end between split stakes, which--bound tightly together with rattans--pressed the edges of the sheets against each other. The lower part was thickly luted with clay, and where the edges of the bark overlapped, a strip of cane was stretched from stake to stake to compress the join. This ingenious vessel was narrow at the bottom but gaped widely at the mouth.

"In cooking the panda.n.u.s, a little water is first poured in, and the fruit piled above it and steamed; when sufficiently done, the bread is prepared by the same method as practised on the coast.

"Several paths led beyond the camp; and following one, we crossed a small stream by a tree bridge (a couple of saplings laid side by side), 300 or 400 yards beyond which we arrived at the bank of the Dagmar River, here a stream about 40 yards wide flowing between low jungle-covered banks.

"Once more by the sea we photographed Aw.a.n.g and his family, bought some of his belongings, and also took possession of about twenty megapodes'

eggs which he had collected for us.

"The Shom Pe[.n] we had seen, he informed us, were all there were in the neighbourhood, although far back in the interior were other, but unfriendly, groups. The only child in the village was his own son, and the same old story was repeated--that where formerly there were two or three men with their families in each house, now there was only one.

"In the afternoon we walked along the sh.o.r.e of Casuarina Bay to the mouth of the Dagmar. Fortunately the tide was low, and exposed a broad strip of hard wet sand, which made the tramp very pleasant, in spite of the hot sun. On the way, we pa.s.sed the half-dry bed of a small stream, crammed with thousands of a little black red-bellied mud-fish, so crowded together that numbers had died.

"The Dagmar River emerges suddenly from jungle, with banks almost free from mangrove and nipah, and makes its way to the sea through a curving channel in the sand, where at low tide it is very shallow.

"Bundles of rattan hung from several trees, and a small hut full of the same material stood near a path that evidently led to the Shom Pe[.n]

village. More cane was to be seen across the river, and a canoe lay on the bank.

"So much we discovered by a little exploring; then, after climbing a palm and refres.h.i.+ng ourselves with stolen coconuts, we set out on the return walk, in order to avoid being overtaken by darkness."

"_March_ 21.--A light breeze set in shortly after 8 A.M., and we weighed anchor. It soon freshened somewhat, and we worked down the coast, tacking on and off. First we pa.s.sed the point forming the north extremity of Casuarina Bay, distinguished by a single palm tree which rises high above the jungle, and next came abreast of Kopenheat, marked by a grove of palms and a hut, finally bringing up at 1.15 P.M. in 9 fathoms, at a spot well protected by a reef from the S.W. swell, with a conspicuous round house bearing E. This anchorage was a little bay formed by the sh.o.r.e running roughly N. and W., and we were in an indentation of the reef, which, when the latter dries at low tide, is about 300 yards wide.

"The village here is called Pulo Nyur (_Malay_ = Coconut Island), seven houses in all, and lies in the shade of palm trees broken into groups by intervening stretches of jungle.

"Going ash.o.r.e in the afternoon we met in the largest house several men and boys from Pulo Babi, the next village southward. Of the other buildings, four or five are uninhabited and falling to pieces. There was only one regular inhabitant in the place--a man whose father, brother, and wife had all died six months previously, and who, unless he could get another wife shortly, intended to leave the spot, which will probably soon be deserted, for his female acquaintances--not unnaturally--objected to such a lonely life.

"A year ago a man was killed by the Shom Pe[.n] on the outskirts of the village, and at the same time the man we saw at Pulo Kunyi barely escaped with his life.

"Several paths lead towards the interior, but the village has no (friendly) relations with the aborigines.

"Behind, and to one side, lay a large stretch of gra.s.s-covered swamp, on which a herd of monkeys was playing until we appeared, while numbers of herons, big and little, were perched in the surrounding trees. The mora.s.s was composed of a sort of sawdust-like paste, into which one sank up to the knees, yet the feet, when withdrawn, were not in the least soiled. In the jungle we got Nicobar pigeons, and a serpent-eagle that seemed to differ from the variety of Little Nicobar and Kachal (_Spilornis_, sp. nov.).

"A path from the beach led to a water-hole, which only required clearing out to afford a plentiful supply; the men set to work at this, and when they had got rid of the water, took from the hole a pailful of mudfish and eels.

"Learning in the evening, from people who came on board, that there were Shom Pe[.n] on the Alexandra River and at Kopenheat, we determined on an expedition in search of them next day."

"_March_ 22.--At sunrise we put off in the whaleboat, and now rowing and now sailing, as the wind served, and all the time keeping well out from sh.o.r.e, to clear the rollers that occurred at irregular intervals in most unexpected places, reached Casuarina Bay (about 6 miles) at 8 A.M.

"The breakers at the mouth of the Dagmar were too big for us to enter the river without an almost certain wetting, to avoid which we pulled back to the south end of the bay, and first wading ash.o.r.e with the contents, ran the boat through the surf and quickly beached her. Almost at once we perceived within the jungle a deserted Shom Pe[.n] village of three huts, of a kind similar to those beyond Pulo Kunyi. In the camp were two or three platforms or lounges, roughly shaded by a few palm leaves, and some odds and ends were lying about; a small pig cage, food baskets made from the b.u.t.t of a palm leaf, and a rude lamp--a sh.e.l.l, in which lay a bit of greasy rag supported on half a coconut.

"Several paths converged at the village, and these we followed up until each gradually came to an end--bundles and strips of rattan lying along them, showing plainly their _raison d'etre_.

"One path, however, led past a second camp. Some of the huts were merely rough platforms built against the trunk of a tree; but others were evidently of the kind we had been told about at Pulo Milo--one platform above the other, respectively 3 and 7 feet above the ground, both partially protected by a number of long palm leaves leaning b.u.t.t downwards against the structure. Continuing onward beyond this village we reached the Dagmar River, and searched along the bank for further paths without success.

"By midday, having thoroughly explored the locality, we returned to a tiffin of biscuits and sardines, with unlimited numbers of young coconuts, which one of the men quickly obtained from an adjacent tree.

Then the boat was launched and loaded, and with the wind helping for part of the distance we travelled back to the _Terrapin_.

"As we pa.s.sed Kopenheat two men put out in a canoe with palm-leaf sails to inform us that a party of Shom Pe[.n] was then at their house. But it was now getting late, and the plates for the camera had all been exposed, so, after arranging for the aborigines to remain until next day, we parted from the canoe and proceeded to the schooner."

"_March_ 22.--Off again by boat in the morning to Kopenheat and met the Shom Pe[.n], who had remained overnight; they having come a distance variously estimated at from half a day to two days' journey (!) down the Alexandra River in small canoes of Nicobarese construction.