In the Andamans and Nicobars Part 31

"As the matter began to grow serious, I went across and ordered Offandi in a commanding tone to leave the place and come away at once. He came away quietly enough to my hut, and the crowd with him. After some inquiry, he said that 'Friend of England' had insulted him, and, therefore, he wanted to open the grave of his (Offandi's) father and throw the bones into the sea, adding, 'This man was a very poor man once. My dead father patronised and gave him land, garden, and everything, but now he calls my father a liar, and so he must be punished.' I then sent word to all the chief men of the village, and told them to come over to my place that night.

"Accordingly, at about seven o'clock, all the people, including the parties of the dispute and the _Kahokachan_ (village judge), a.s.sembled, and as this was a family quarrel, I asked the judge to investigate the case, and settle the matter according to their own customs. A good deal of argument then took place between Offandi and 'Friend of England,' the crowd, acting as jurors, gave their opinion, and at last the judge made a long speech, in which he pointed out the faults of both parties, and ended the case by ordering them to be reconciled. 'Friend of England' apologised to Offandi, admitting his bad language, and the latter forgave him, everybody departing quite satisfied.

"The origin of the affair was that Offandi and 'Friend of England,'

with a few others, jointly cleared a spot in the jungle to make a garden. 'David Jones,' a cousin of the former's and a junior partner in the concern, wished to plant only coconut shoots, a plan to which 'Friend of England' raised an objection, as he wanted to grow only yams and other eatables. Offandi tried to intercede on behalf of 'David Jones,' on the plea that the land was given him by his deceased father, and therefore he was at liberty to plant what he liked in the allotment. Then it appeared that 'Friend of England' said, 'Your father was a liar.' Being enraged by this, Offandi rejoined, 'Shall I dig up the bones of my father and throw them into the sea?'--a very great indignity and bad omen to the party causing it. 'Friend of England' replied,'Yes, you had better,' and hence the trouble."[218]

The cases of "amok" that occur among the Malayan peoples are, as often as not, the outcome of ill-health and long-continued brooding over some imaginary or trifling insult. Similar occurrences happen from time to time among the Nicobarese, and as they are an almost exact parallel, they possibly afford material proof as to the Malayan affinities of these people.

Sam-tat-yon was always a loafer who obtained his food gratis from the traders at Malacca, and slept in any bazaar he could. At dawn one morning, Osman--an old man--a servant of Yusuf Hussain, got up from his bed and went to the beach, and while returning to his hut, saw Sam-tat-yon coming out of it with an axe in his hand.

Osman called out to Ali Hussain and Yusuf Hussain (both foreign traders) and told them what he had seen, and Sam-tat-yon, hearing this, dropped the axe, and with a small American knife, kept for husking coconuts, attempted to kill both Ali and Yusuf. They, however, got beneath the floor of the hut and made their escape, the former with a slight wound.

Sam-tat-yon then fell upon old Osman and slew him with the knife.

He next went up to some Burmans who were gambling, and dispersed them, after doing one of them some slight injury. Sam-tat-yon then ran off to the village of Perka.

At Perka, there were sleeping in a house his brother--a man named Kichyeti,--one Chestu Chulia, and some women and children.

Sam-tat-yon entered, closed the door, and stabbing his brother first in the chest and then in the abdomen, killed him. At the first cry of Kichyeti, Chestu Chulia and the others got up, and giving the alarm, tried to s.n.a.t.c.h away the knife. Some women from a neighbouring house then came and helped to arrest the murderer, whose own wife--one of those arriving to rescue Chestu Chulia--was wounded in the struggle.

The populace not unnaturally wanted to kill Sam-tat-yon on the spot, but they were prevailed upon to keep him for trial. Not being accustomed to guarding prisoners, and not liking to keep him in any of their houses, lest they should become polluted, they prepared a strong wooden cage, similar to those made for pigs that are to be slaughtered, and left the man in it with his hands tied.

(The Nicobarese fear the presence of a desperado, and are too ignorant to know how to guard him, and for these reasons they always kill the men of whom they entertain fear.)

After three or four days of the cage, Sam-tat-yon became quite subdued, and answered any inquiries about the occurrence. He fully admitted his behaviour, but attributed no cause to it. He simply said that he had been unwell for the last month, and could not take his meals properly, that he was unable to drink coconut milk, but lived upon warm water, and that he had not slept for several nights. In such a state of health he lost his senses, and therefore committed the crime. He stated that the Mussulman who was killed by him was not an enemy, but on the other hand, he and all the traders were his friends. Regarding his brother, he said that he had been kind to him.

The proceedings of a man who wishes to obtain a name as a wizard are rather curious. He will, for instance, frequent pig wallows, and, sitting in the mud, collect the bristles left there by the pigs when cooling themselves; or again, he visits the graveyard at night and disturbs the graves. He generally lives by himself in the jungle, doing no work, but stealing pigs, chickens, and coconuts from others. Having made a reputation for witchcraft, he is held in much fear by the community, but to balance this advantage, if they consider themselves injured by his practices, it is not impossible that they may some day combine and murder him.

Besides ridding themselves of an unpleasant neighbour, it would seem that they also hope by such an action to cause the destruction of an evilly-disposed spirit.

1. "Tham Koi, son of Katha, having beaten a countryman to death in Chaura, made the following statement: 'Kanunla, a _menluana_ (medicine man) and sorcerer, is addicted to sodomy and theft. He bewitched my father, who became very ill. I sent for Kanunla to come and shampoo my father, who gradually got worse. I became enraged with the _menluana_, and waited until he got on the ladder of my hut, when I struck him on the left side of the neck, so that he fell down. I went down and struck him again thrice, and he died.

I then went and told my neighbours Kamrang Piko, Okio, Cher, and Tachoi what I had done, and asked them to help me remove the corpse, which we took in a canoe and threw into the sea. Kanunla did not make a noise. No one knew of this at the time because it was in the evening, and very dark. The villagers knew of it on the following morning.'"--_Diary of Mr Obed Elias._

2. Tekwa was the adopted son of Iskol's father, and was always living in Iskol's house. Eventually he became a thief, and robbed the people of their fowls and pigs, and he was supposed to be a "devil-man" or wizard.

It happened that a man named Sutro died after suffering a long time from dysentery and consumption, and it was supposed by Iskol and his friends that Tekwa was the cause of this death. Tekwa perceived this, and hid himself in a place called _Hat-Own_; but three days later, Iskol and his friends, Natla, Sundran, and Nawi, after consulting together, brought him thence to a place called Ranai, where, after giving him toddy, they killed him by strangling him with a rope, subsequent to breaking his joints at the knees and elbows.

The same night they buried the corpse in _Kofente_ (the place of pollution), near the graveyard, and a day or two later, killed a couple of pigs as a ransom or sacrifice.

The reason for these murders--or popular sentences,--when not because of witchcraft, seems to be somewhat obscure, but can possibly be found in a general dislike for the victim, or for some act or event with which he is a.s.sociated.

A woman of Kenuaka had been shot to death with arrows by her fellow-villagers. She was suffering badly from secondary syphilis, and was very poorly off, but the reason given as the immediate cause of her death was the untimely delivery of a still-born child. The body was buried in the usual manner, and everybody contributed cloth to wrap the corpse in, according to custom.

A double murder took place in the village of Perka, whose headman was named Kan-nyana. The victims, who were detested by the village, were put to death because of their misconduct. Six men partic.i.p.ated in the affair, but as there was no idea among the natives that they should be punished, no one could be brought to point them out to the Agent. The testimony of witnesses showed the light in which they were regarded.

Tamikal, wife of one of the deceased, stated:--"On a certain night, while I was sitting at the entrance of my house, my husband was angry with me, and attempted to thrash me. I cried aloud. Then, suddenly, a lot of men, armed with sticks, came into the house and commenced to beat the dead man. I was afraid and ran away, and cannot say what happened further, nor could I recognise any of the a.s.sailants. I am glad, however, that the two men were killed, for they were wicked men."

Kokali, son of one of the deceased, seconded the statements of his mother, and said, "I am glad that they were killed; they were very bad men; the village now enjoys peace."

The culprits were finally apprehended, and one of them, Ringangmareng, grasping a stick, cried in great anger, "Why do you call me here? I am the man who killed those wicked villains with the very stick I have now in my hand. Do you wish to handcuff me and carry me to Port Blair? Do so if you like, but you must not take _mah_"--pointing to the chief Kan-nyana.

(The Nicobarese possess much affection for their chiefs, and also value their _tamiluanas_ highly. When one of the latter was being taken to Port Blair because of misconduct, the headman of his village entreated that two other men might be subst.i.tuted for the "doctor.")

Suicide is not recognised as an inst.i.tution of Nicobarese life, but cases of it do occur somewhat occasionally.

Pin-re-ta was a good man, very rich, and had no wife nor any enemies, and therefore his fellow-villagers could show no cause for the occurrence. One day, his servant-boy, who was sleeping in the cookhouse, was aroused by a noise as of a pig being beaten. Going down the ladder to see what was happening, he noticed that the pig-sty was in flames, and that a pig had been killed, and then he saw Pin-re-ta, who, standing below the cookhouse, axe in hand, threatened to murder him. The boy ran off to the jungle, where people were making a garden; and they, returning with him, found that Pin-re-ta, after setting fire to both his houses, had thrown himself into the flames, and was burnt to death.

While the negotiations were going on for the plot of land on which the Schoolhouse and Agent's bungalow stand, it was found that in buying land in Kar Nicobar, the bargain must be made with the chief, as overlord of all the land in the village, but that he, on his part, is bound to share the proceeds with all who are interested in it.

The price fixed on for the piece in question (about 8-1/4 acres) was:--twelve black suits, one piece of red cloth, six bags rice, twenty packets Chinese tobacco, and twelve bottles rum.

These things were distributed amongst the people of the village by the headman, Offandi, who retained nothing for himself; but for some time subsequently he was in bad odour for having given up the land to the Government, and for a long period the Agency was looked on with much disfavour.

The Kar Nicobarese have a deeply rooted aversion to the settlement of strangers in their midst, and more than once have expelled from their island intruding missionaries. Nowadays, great discontent is caused by the traders leaving agents to carry on business during the south-west monsoon, when the weather is not suitable for vessels to remain amongst these islands.

The habit the natives have of using their crossbows in the immediate neighbourhood of the villages is sometimes productive of fatal accidents. Two men were shooting at Sawi, and one of them having shot at a bird and missed, the arrow in falling pierced the chest of his friend, who had run forward to recover it. Several similar mischances have occurred recently in M[=u]s; in the latest, a lad named Sinkin shot at a bird, and his arrow, glancing from a tree, struck a man, Ka Noe, and entered his side, causing a serious, but not fatal, wound.

The not infrequent mishaps that occur on the annual canoe voyages undertaken by the Kar Nicobarese to Chaura have much to do with the stationary condition of the population of the island. Canoes containing thirty to forty men are regularly sent out by the villages of the island, and when they meet with bad weather a total loss is not an uncommon occurrence.

During the months of October, November, and December--the first half of the north-east monsoon--or fine season, the people of Kar Nicobar live a busy life.

At first they are engaged in husking the coconuts which are to be exported to Calcutta and Moulmein. The wages they obtain for this work are the value of 100 nuts for husking 1000 nuts. They are generally paid in cloth, or two-anna bits, which are utilised by manufacture into head--or neck--ornaments.

Next they are employed in landing the goods of the Burmese kopra-makers, and in carrying the same to their villages, for as no ships can anchor on the north-east coast during the season, everything has to be transported by the natives. The people of M[=u]s carry the things of those traders who own stores in their villages; in like manner the villagers of Malacca go to Sawi Bay, and carry the goods of those Burmans who dwell amongst them. They are remunerated according to the following scale:--

For carrying a 3-maund bag of rice-- China tobacco. Rice.

(_a_) From Hog Point (N.-W. of Savi Bay) to _Elpanam_ at M[=u]s 2 packets and 2 lbs.

(_b_) Kenmai 3 " " 2 "

(_c_) Lapati 4 " " 4 "

{ Tapoeming } (_d_) { Chokchuacha } 5 " " 4 "

{ Kenyuaka } (_e_) Tamalu 6 " " 4 "

(_f_) Perka 7 " " 4 "

(_g_) Malacca 8 " " 4 "

It costs a trader about 30 rupees to transport one cartload of goods from M[=u]s to Malacca.

When this work is done, the Nicobarese are employed in erecting huts, to serve the traders as bazaars. Each hut is built by contract by one man with the help of friends, and on its completion the owner has to give the contractor 14 to 20 yards of red cloth, a Burmese betel-box and a _dao_, and besides this, has to supply the men with food until the work is finished.

After the hut has been built, the natives proceed to make a fence round a small compound, in order to prevent pigs from destroying the stores of kopra. For this they are remunerated separately.

While some are thus engaged, others take pa.s.sages in such of the trading vessels as go to Kamorta and other islands, in order to a.s.sist in husking coconuts and making kopra, work for which they receive one nut in ten. These opportunities are much desired by the natives, since they are at liberty to take home with them any number of Chaura pots, rattans, bamboos, paddles, and canoes; and masters of trading boats are glad to employ the Kar Nicobarese, for the people of the other islands are too indolent to collect and prepare the nuts, but sell them on the trees.