In the Andamans and Nicobars Part 21

Towards the middle of the century, Koeping, a Swede, touched at one of the islands in a Dutch vessel and thought he perceived men with tails, "like those of cats, which they move in the same manner," but he was deceived by the peculiar clothing. He further credits the Nicobarese with cannibalism, for a boat's crew of five men that went ash.o.r.e never returned, but next day their bones were found strewn over the beach![121] Next, Dampier was put ash.o.r.e by the privateer he piloted on the N. W. coast of Great Nicobar, and after a short sojourn left with his companions in a native canoe, and succeeded in reaching Sumatra.

The first recorded murder of a European by the natives seems to be that of Captain Owen, who was wrecked on Tilanchong, and from thence taken to Nankauri, where he was put to death on account of his ill-judged behaviour towards the inhabitants. This incident is related by Hamilton in his account of his own experiences in the East Indies from 1688 to 1723,[122] where he gives a little information about the Nicobars.

The first attempt at a settlement on the islands was made by Jesuits on Kar Nicobar in 1711, but they succ.u.mbed to the climate, and the effects of such results as they had attained to soon disappeared. Hitherto no efforts had been made to convert the natives, although missionaries of the same denomination were well acquainted with the group.

In 1756 Tanck took possession of the Archipelago in the name of Denmark, and under the designation of "Frederiks Oerne," and founded a colony on the north coast of Great Nicobar, which in 1760 was transferred to Kamorta, and there came to an end owing to the unhealthy climate.

In 1766 fourteen Moravians were installed on Nankauri, with a view to extending the influence of the Danish East India Company, but in a dozen years nearly every member of the settlement was dead. They are said to have made no conversions.

A Dane, named Koenig, who was a doctor of the same religious body, voyaging from India to Siam in 1778, spent several hours on Kar Nicobar, and in his diary left some account of his visit; and almost contemporaneously a vessel under the Austrian flag, the _Joseph and Theresa_, Captain Bennet, anch.o.r.ed off the northern island: her voyage was made to obtain plantations and trading stations in the East for the Austrian Empire. This was the scheme of a Dutchman, named Bolts, who entered the Austrian service in 1775, and who accompanied the s.h.i.+p, a chartered English vessel with an English crew. The expedition spent five months in the group: a fort was erected on the island, and s.h.i.+ps purchased to trade between Madras, Pegu, and the Nicobars. War in Europe ruined the company, and it was suspended after an existence of seven years.

In 1779 two more Moravians settled on Nankauri, in an attempt to found a fresh Danish Mission, but eight years later this was abandoned, and the survivor returned to Europe.

With the commencement of the nineteenth century, English traders from India began to visit the islands for coconuts, and, through contact with their crews, the custom and life of the natives seems to have undergone much growth and alteration.

In 1831 Denmark made a last attempt to colonise the group by missionary enterprise, and Pastor Rosen was sent out. He dwelt on Nankauri, in the middle of the north side of the harbour, and for a time also lived on Trinkat; but after three years he returned to Europe, and some time later published his experiences.

The year Rosen left, two Catholic missionaries arrived at Kar Nicobar from Malacca, and lived on Teressa and Kamorta, but after a time one of them, Borie, died of fever, and the survivor left. This was the last of the series of missionary endeavours to found a settlement and convert the inhabitants.

In 1845, Mr Mackay, Danish Consul at Calcutta, chartered a schooner and made a voyage to the group in search of coal, which was prospected for without success.[123]

A year later the Danish corvette _Galathea_,[124] voyaging round the world, spent some months among the islands, and her commander, Steen Bille, took possession of the central group for Denmark, and invested two natives with the insignia of chief magistrates. Two years afterwards, however, the _Valkyrien_ was sent to the islands to bring away the flags and batons, and the last of several ineffective annexations came to an end. The _Galathea_ expedition surveyed much of the coasts, sought for coal and other minerals, and named the princ.i.p.al river the "Galathea."

In 1858 the Austrian frigate _Novara_[125] spent a month in the group, during which, half the time was pa.s.sed at sea. Many parts. .h.i.therto unsurveyed were charted by them, and valuable knowledge as to the ethnographical and geological conditions of the islands was obtained.

The islands were finally taken possession of by the Indian Government in 1869--the British had officially annexed the group in 1807, but not occupied it--and a settlement was formed at Nankauri Harbour to check the piratical proceedings of that place, and although this was given up in 1888, after it had served its purpose, the history of the Nicobars is now bound up with that of the Andamans, to which they are affiliated.

Although the inhabitants of the Nicobar Islands were originally all of the same stock, various causes have contributed to bring about a distinction amongst them, and they are now separated into two distinct ethnical groups,--the Shom Pe[.n] of the interior of Great Nicobar, and the coast people, or Nicobarese, who are found in all the inhabited islands.

Of the Shom Pe[.n] but little is known, as, with the exception of a few families who have friendly intercourse with the coast villages, they have, as now const.i.tuted, always been persistently hostile to the Nicobarese, but it is probable that they number at most between 300 and 400 individuals.

It was for long believed that the interior of Great Nicobar was inhabited by a race of Negritoes akin to the Andamanese, but the Shom Pe[.n] are an isolated group of primitive Malayans, and although they must be regarded as the aborigines of the islands, many features amongst them point to the fact that they are no longer racially pure.

Not only does the facial appearance vary greatly, but the hair, which is universally regarded as an almost infallible indication of race amongst primitive peoples, occurs in all the grades between curly and straight.

To account for this latter difference, and for the dull brown colour of the skin--far darker than is usual amongst Malays--one may of course suggest remote Negrito admixture. Possibly the Andamanese, on one of the predatory voyages which it seems they were not unaccustomed to make in this direction,[126] may have reached the island, and for some reason unable to return, have intermixed with the inhabitants.

But I think it more probable that these peculiarities are due to a Dravidian strain, and that some mariners of this race, who, from before the time of Solomon, were accustomed to make trading voyages to the Eastern Archipelago,[127] became stranded on these islands, and incorporated themselves with the people they found there.

In this way, not only would the nature of the hair, colour of the skin, and occasional definiteness of feature, be accounted for, but the aborigines would be left as we now find them, unreduced in height, while mixture with the Andamanese would probably have the effect of lessening their stature.

Furthermore, I have, since my acquaintance with these people, occasionally met Tamils, whom, if I had seen similarly garbed in the forests of Great Nicobar, I believe I should have been unable to distinguish from Shom Pe[.n].[128]

On the other hand, they much resemble, in appearance and mode of life, descriptions of many of the primitive Malayans who have intermixed with Negritoes. Of these the Kubus of Sumatra are an instance,[129] and of the Jakuns of Joh.o.r.e, who are believed to be of Negrito origin, but much interbred with Malays. Mr H. Lake[130] writes: "The true Jakun is of short stature, 5 feet 2 inches is a fair average height. They are much darker in colour than the Malay, and, as a rule, not so well set up. The hair, which in the pure Negrito curls closely, is here in most cases simply wavy, or even straight. They live in small communities, and subsist miserably on fruits, roots, etc. They seldom remain many weeks in the same spot, but wander from place to place, living under scanty shelters built on rickety poles at a considerable height from the ground. It is not uncommon to find a dozen in company, with a tame monkey or two, cats and dogs, living in perfect harmony under the same roof."

We may therefore consider the Shom Pe[.n] to be the aborigines of the group, who, although everywhere else either exterminated or absorbed by settlers from outside, have in Great Nicobar found a refuge in the forest depths, and by long-standing hostility to the intruders, arising from some unknown cause, have preserved to a great extent their natural traits and existence, although somewhat degenerated, both on account of the less favourable circ.u.mstances in which they live and of the interbreeding that the smallness of their numbers compels.

Although the Shom Pe[.n] are by measurement as tall in the average as the coast people, to the eye they appear smaller, and they are less robust, with lean though bony figures (average chest measurements, 35.2 inches), sinewy rather than muscular.

Fourteen measurements of adult males gave a maximum height of 67-3/4 inches, a minimum of 62-1/8 inches, and an average height of 64 inches.

Of eight women measured, the tallest was 65-1/4 inches in height, and the smallest 57-3/8 inches, while the average stature of that number was found to be 60.8 inches.

The colour of the skin is a dark muddy-brown or bronze (several shades deeper than the coast natives), but it is liable to slight variation, and is generally a little paler in the women and girls, who resemble far more distinctly the coa.r.s.e Malayan type than the men do.

The hair of the head is very luxuriant, and of all varieties between wavy and curly, but is not crisp or frizzly to any degree. No hair grows on the face, or on the body, save about the armpits, etc.

The outline of the face is an oblong rectangle, and the forehead is somewhat retreating, but occasionally high and rounded, though narrow; the supraciliary arch is prominent, but the eyebrows are light. The eyes, with black pupils, are both oblique and horizontal, and when the latter, are often accompanied by the Mongolian fold, which occurs most frequently among the women.

The nose is broad and flattened, with rounded tip and rather rounded nostrils, the plane of which is upward. It is generally of medium size and straight, but now and again has a p.r.o.nounced bridge, or a slightly concave outline.

The cheekbones and zygomatic arch are prominent, and a degree of prognathism is prevalent. The teeth are large, irregular, and discoloured, and project outwards. The mouth is large, the lips thick, with the upper very curved from centre to ends; they are generally closed. The lower jaw is commonly large and heavy, and the chin is pointed, as the bones converge directly from the basal angle. The ears lie close to the head, and are hidden by the hair, but the lobes are much distorted with plugs of wood.

The huts in which the Shom Pe[.n] dwell, although always built on piles, show considerable differences, and vary from a well-built floor with a carefully constructed roof of palm leaf attap, to a rough platform often placed against the side of a tree and sheltered by two or three palm branches fastened to the corners.[131]

They are said to possess gardens enclosed in zigzag fences, where they cultivate bananas, yams, and other tubers. The panda.n.u.s fruit they cook in a well-made vessel of sheets of bark, carefully protected with green leaves and luted with clay, in which we can, perhaps, see one of the origins of pottery; for it is quite admissible that, in course of time, the leaves should be discarded, more clay added, and at length the effect of fire on the latter having been observed, the bark also would be done away with, or only used as a mould for a clay vessel, from which more suitable shapes would finally be evolved.

The domestic animals are dogs, cats, chickens, and pigs, which are generally caught when young in the jungle, and apparently not permitted to attain any respectable size. All find a refuge in the houses, up to which a sort of inclined plane is arranged for their convenience.

Their manufactures are very few. They make canoes; construct a spear out of a single piece of wood, baskets, both of rattan and palm spathe, and a rough cloth from the inner bark of a tree.[132]

The friendly Shom Pe[.n] are energetic collectors of rattan, which they trade with the Nicobarese, and so obtain garments, beads, knives, _parangs_, axes, and tobacco, which is smoked in the form of cigarettes.

They are great consumers of betel-nut, in combination with lime and sireh.

Amongst these friendly families, the clothing worn is similar to that of the Nicobarese, with necklaces of beads, and they employ a large wooden ear-distender an inch and a half in diameter.[133] The sheets of bark cloth are used as pillows and coverings at night, and amongst the hostile aborigines it is said the women wear short petticoats of this material, while the men go entirely clothesless.

Amongst those met with, there was generally one man in each party, who, by virtue possibly of superior intelligence or knowledge of the coast language, seemed to have some slight authority over the remainder.

They are monogamous, and, unlike the Nicobarese, marry for life. The position of the women is apparently a satisfactory one, for they are regarded as little or in no way inferior to the men. The men obtain the food, the women prepare it. Rattans are collected in the jungle by the men, and by them carried to market; both s.e.xes together prepare it, by sc.r.a.ping and splitting, for sale. When bringing articles for barter, the men bore the spears, and the baskets and cloth were carried by the women, and generally such things as were obtained in exchange were immediately handed over to the latter.

All those met with seemed quiet, stolid, and timid in disposition; but a cupidity for the goods of their neighbours at times overcomes the latter characteristic amongst the less accessible of the aborigines, and many are the murderous attacks they are said to have made on the Nicobarese for the purpose of loot.

No infants or young children were seen, although surprise visits were paid to several of the villages, neither were any old people _en evidence_, but the ages were judged to vary between ten and forty-five years.

The language differs from all others in the islands, but here and there are individuals who know sufficient of the coast speech to hold converse with the Nicobarese.[134]

Their carelessness with regard to their water-supply--for any muddy pool or stagnant brook is made use of--is probably sufficient reason for the large number of cases of elephantiasis occurring among them; the only other affection besides this, that seems to be in anyway chronic, is the common body ringworm of the tropics.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Iron Buffalo and Pig Spears.]

CHAPTER III

THE NICOBARESE

The Evolution of the Nicobarese--Description--Character--Language-- Legends of Origin--Origin of Coco Palms--Invention of Punishments-- Superst.i.tious Beliefs--Diseases--Medicines--Marriage--Matriarchal System--Divorce--Polygamy--Courts.h.i.+p--Property--_Takoia_--Headmen-- Social State--Position of Women and Children--Domestic Animals-- Weapons--Tools--Fis.h.i.+ng--Turtle--Food--Beverages--Narcotics and Stimulants--Cleanliness--Clothing--Ornaments--_Coiffure_-- Amus.e.m.e.nts--Arts and Industries--Cultivation--Produce--Traders and Commerce.