In the Andamans and Nicobars Part 22

If the Shom Pe[.n] are not racially pure, the Nicobarese or coast-dwellers are still less so, and what components have gone to form them as they now exist is an interesting ethnical question.

To account for a certain similarity in all the people of the Archipelago, we may suppose that not all, but most, of the islands were occupied by groups of the aborigines, who everywhere but in Great Nicobar--where, because of its size and forest-clad nature they could find a refuge--became either exterminated or absorbed by successive arrivals of colonists that have since made the presence of the former almost indistinguishable.

In spite of the partial likeness of type, it is doubtful whether all, or nearly all, the islands were occupied by the aborigines. Tilanchong, for instance, is uninhabited, and it is questionable whether such forestless islands as Kar Nicobar, Chaura, or Kamorta, etc., could be suitable habitats for such a primitive people. In Kachal, Nankauri, and Little Nicobar we have islands of a similar character to Great Nicobar, although in them no traces of a rude people are to be found. It is probably on account of the smallness of these areas that the immigrants succeeded in eradicating the first inhabitants, who, in the other island alone, hostile causes notwithstanding,[135] have preserved for themselves a separate existence.

To account for such features as are common to both peoples everywhere, we may conclude, therefore, that while many of the latter aborigines survived separately, the others were absorbed by settlers on the coasts, who, by communication and intermarriage with islands not possessing an indigenous element, carried the Shom Pe[.n] strain throughout the Archipelago.

The arrival of numerous colonists from the eastward would account for the lighter complexion of the Nicobarese; for it is only natural to suppose that if a separate branch of the same people, the one living in the open on the coast would be darker in complexion than the other, instead of which the contrary is the case.

As to the component parts of the Nicobarese, various suggestions have been made. They are Malays modified by a Burmese element;[136] the descendants of Malays before Mahommedanism spread among them (close of thirteenth century), but separated at a much earlier date;[137] or, again, they are of the same race as the Battaks.[138]

They are described as offshoots of the Malay race, being a people which, while possessing much in common with the Indo-Chinese stock, nevertheless, in their physical characteristics, hold a place midway between the Malays and the Burmese.[139]

It has also been said of them that they are "descended from a mongrel Malay stock, the crosses being probably in the majority of cases with the Burmese, and occasionally with natives of the opposite coast of Siam, and perchance also in remote times with such of the Shom Pe[.n] as may have settled in their midst."[140]

The natives of Teressa are probably not greatly wrong when they say that the inhabitants of Nankauri are Malays, who when out fishing lost their boats and settled there, and the Kar Nicobarese are descendants of the Burmese who, in a revolution that took place in their country, were obliged to leave the Tena.s.serim coast.[141]

In the first case, it is not difficult to admit that fishing-boats belonging to Sumatra (90 miles distant), or to the Malay Peninsula (260 miles away), should be blown off-sh.o.r.e in a storm, and safely reaching Nankauri yet not care to face the voyage back.[142]

Pegu is about 400 miles from the islands, and Tena.s.serim a little less.

About 1000 A.D. the first historical conquest of the Lower Irrawadi was effected by the Burmese, and its inhabitants, the Mous, became known as "Talaings," or slaves. Their final defeat took place in 1757.

Nothing is more possible than that, after one of their disasters, a small section of the Talaings fled from their home and established themselves in the Nicobars, which they had probably become cognisant of in the way of trade.[143] At present the only sea-going craft are a few score "kallu," small junks of 20-60 tons, built in Tavoy, which, manned by five or six Talaings, venture as far as the Nicobars, where they ship coconuts in the fine monsoon.[144]

Nor are these all, for the islanders are doubtless leavened by stray immigrants from India,[145]--which would account for the not infrequent occurrence of Caucasian features among them,--by Arabs, and even by Chinese.

Malays and Burmese--or rather Talaings--formed, however, the greater part of the intrusive element.

Although colonisation was very local--the reason possibly for so many distinct languages in the group--the islands now exhibit a state of transition, due to intercrossing. Individuals occur at the extremes of the Archipelago who bear a striking resemblance to each other, but nevertheless there is a marked, though vague, difference to be seen when the natives of several of the islands, or groups of islands, are compared with each other as a body.

"All things considered, it may be inferred that the Archipelago was originally occupied by primitive peoples of Malayan stock, now represented by the Shom Pe[.n] of Great Nicobar, and was afterwards resettled on the coast-lands by Indo-Chinese and Malayan intruders, who intermingled, and either extirpated and absorbed, or else drove to the interior, the first occupants."[146]

It is difficult to picture a typical representative of this much-mixed people, as even in those islands that have a distinct speech of their own, and whose inhabitants might be supposed to be fairly h.o.m.ogenous, wide differences are met with, as above pointed out. The variations, however, are not sufficient on the whole to merit separate descriptions of the inhabitants of each island.

These variations occurring in size, features, and hair, show that the Nicobarese are a thoroughly mixed race, for the points do not coincide with each other; that is to say, curly hair does not always go with a prominent nose, or straight hair with Malayan features.

It is hardly possible to describe a representative specimen who combines all the prominent prevalent characteristics, but they seem capable of division into two cla.s.ses, the smaller of which is superior in appearance to the other, and is often strikingly Caucasian, with oval face, straight eyes, aquiline nose, and thin lips.[147]

The result of about forty measurements shows that the maximum height of an adult male Nicobarese is 70-3/4 inches; the minimum, 59-1/4 inches; and the average stature, 63.9 inches.[148] While thus somewhat under middle height, they are well built (average chest measurement, 35.3 inches) and proportioned, muscular, and on the whole a st.u.r.dy-looking race.

The colour of the skin is a brown much resembling in colour the tint of a sun-burnt, weather-beaten Malay, such as a sailor; it is darker than the ordinary native of that race, and has less of the olive or yellow about it.

The hair is of a rusty black, but generally glossy with oil: it is thick and luxuriant, and reaches to the shoulders, varying between a slight waviness and p.r.o.nounced curls. It is somewhat coa.r.s.e, and when kept short with boys, is almost bristly, and stands up stiffly all over the head. In about 5 per cent. of the men there are traces of moustache and beard, otherwise the faces are smooth, but the axillae and elsewhere, and often legs and thighs, are profusely covered with hair.

The form of skull is brachycephalic, with an index of about 80.5, and the back of the head, among the natives of the central and southern groups of islands (excepting the Shom Pe[.n]), is noticeably flat.[149]

The face is broad, and, but for the cheek-bones, which are generally prominent and developed laterally, approaches the oval type. Often, however, it has a somewhat rectangular outline, owing to the squareness of the lower jaw in the rear. The features are somewhat flat. The forehead is slightly rounded and even well-formed, but it is often compressed at the temples, and falls away somewhat suddenly.

The supraciliary arch is prominent, and the eyebrows are generally fixed in a permanent scowl; the pupil is black, and the eyes often--though not as a rule--slightly oblique, with the Mongolian fold at the corner.

The nose is generally broad, and coa.r.s.e in outline, is straight, and of medium length, depressed at the bridge, flattened, with rounded tip, has inflated _alae nasi_, and the plane of the nostrils directed upward.[150]

There is often marked prognathism of the dental variety, and the teeth are irregular and blackened, large and projecting--frequently growing outwards at an angle, like those of a rabbit.

The mouth is naturally large, and its shape is not improved by holding the betel-quid between the upper lip and teeth. The lips are moderately thick, and the lower is often pendulous and turned down, showing much of the mucous membrane. When at rest, the lips are kept apart.

The chin is usually rather retreating, small, with a rounded and pointed tip; but the jaw is somewhat heavily hung at the base, and the posterior angle is strongly marked.

The ears are well formed, moderately large, and lie close to the head, unless drawn out of shape by much use of ear-distenders.

The Nicobarese have not always been given a good character by their acquaintances. They have been called lazy, inactive, and drunken, cowardly and treacherous, but this last must be taken as applying more to those bands of pirates--with a probable large foreign element--who committed so many crimes during a long period; otherwise, they are harmless and good-tempered. The accusation of cowardice is made with more truth, and it is a quality they frankly own up to.

Lazy and inactive they may be from our point of view, but hardly otherwise. Food is abundant all round them, weapons are not necessary, and clothing they do not really need. They show plenty of application and care when making their canoes, building their houses--which in construction are models of neatness--and in gathering the toddy, that with betel-nut is, perhaps, their only native luxury. Drunken they certainly are on many occasions, but the state with them is one that, fortunately, does not give rise to troublesomeness.

They are honest in their commercial transactions, and are most indignant should their integrity be impugned, while the accusation of untruthfulness brings them up in arms immediately.

Somewhat absent in manner, unemotional and apathetic, the more intelligent are yet extremely inquisitive towards strangers, and ask endless questions of a personal kind.

Although not remarkable for courtesy, or possessing any forms of salutation,[151] they are very hospitable, and always ready with coconuts, cigarettes, etc., for a visitor. It is customary for natives, when travelling, to enter without remark any house on their path, help themselves to food and drink, and depart in silence.[152]

They are exceedingly independent in manner and spirit, are of a somewhat commercial turn of mind, and are occasionally gifted with a distressing importunity, which is most common in those places where visits from Europeans have been most frequent.

Parents seem to possess great affection for their infants, and the number of men, especially, who may be seen about the villages carrying their children, or otherwise amusing them, is remarkable.

Six distinct dialects and languages are spoken in the Archipelago--one on Kar Nicobar, another on Chaura; Teressa and Bompoka together have one; the central islands of Kamorta, Nankauri, Trinkat, and Kachal speak a fourth; while Little and Great Nicobar with their adjacent islands have a fifth. Lastly, the Shom Pe[.n] of the interior of Great Nicobar employ a speech that is dissimilar to the others.

The language, which is somewhat harsh in sound, has, however, "an extraordinarily rich, phonetic system--as many as twenty-five consonantal and thirty-five vowel sounds (it possesses a peculiar double series of nasal vowels)--is polysyllabic, and untoned, like the Malayo-Polynesian, and the type seems to resemble the Oceanic more than the Continental Mongol subdivision."[153]

This is the theory of the Kar Nicobarese with regard to their origin:--

A certain man, from some unknown country, arrived at the Nicobars on a flat, with a pet female dog, and settled in Kar Nicobar. In course of time he espoused the b.i.t.c.h, and begot a son. When this son was grown up, he concealed his mother by covering her with a _ngong_, a kind of petticoat made of coco-palm leaves, and, after killing his father in the jungle, took his mother to wife. From such parents the Nicobarese believe they originated, and it is their progeny who now people the island.

The two-horned head-dress--_ta-chokla_--worn by all males, they consider symbolic of their mother's ears; the end of the loin-cloth that dangles behind, they call her tail; and the piece of cotton reaching to the women's knees only, they compare with the _ngong_ petticoat, which was her first dress.

Until comparatively recently, this _ngong_--a thick fringe of palm leaf about 15 inches deep, inserted in a band--was in universal wear (see Koeping, Hamilton, Lancaster, and others) and, even now, it is worn sometimes by the women when working in the plantations. It is also worn at Teressa, and still more at Chaura.[154]

Another version of the legend varies somewhat, making the father a dog and the mother a woman. It is owing to this belief that the natives say they are sons of a dog, and for this reason they treat their dogs very kindly, and never beat them: they quiet them by simply saying "Hush!

hush!"

There is another tradition amongst the Nicobarese, to the effect that the first stranger who came to their islands, seeing something moving on the sand, perceived small people the size of an ant. He took care of them until they attained the common size of men--and this was the origin of the natives.[155]

To account for the coconut trees that grow in such abundance on the island, the Kar Nicobarese version runs thus:--

Once upon a time there was a scarcity of water, and a certain man then produced it from his elbow by means of magic arts. The people therefore considered him to be a devil-man--wizard--and beheaded him. On the spot where the head fell there sprang up a tree, and after a time it became very big, and began to bear fruit, and the fruit resembled the head of the slain man.

For a long time the people were afraid to approach the tree or to taste the nuts, because they had grown out of a human head, and so, by the falling of the ripe fruit, there grew up a dense grove of coconut palms.