In the Andamans and Nicobars Part 5

The dwelling-place of the headman (_mah_), who is named Offandi, in no way differed from the others. We made our presence known from below.

"Wait," came a voice, "wait till I've got my clothes on," and soon after the chief appeared in a rusty suit of black broadcloth, and a damaged, bowler hat. He was a short but exceedingly strong-looking man, with a thick neck and bullet head, and wore a very slight moustache. We shook hands all round, and commenced asking each other questions in English as we strolled through the village. Then, after ascertaining that we should be pleased to see him on board later, and provide spirituous refreshment, Offandi left us.

He was said to be very well off, possessing large numbers of coco palms, but the other staple of wealth (pigs) he has to buy.

We presently reached, near the sh.o.r.e, a group of buildings known as _Elpanam_ (The Place).[19] Princ.i.p.al among these were two buildings, in which feasts and meetings take place. While of the same shape as the living-houses, they were much larger in every way. The roof and floor are built on the ground, and then, by the combined efforts of the whole village, are raised to the supports on which they rest. They were constructed inside of laths of areca, closely bound together, and fastened horizontally to a framework covered with gra.s.s thatch, a foot or more in thickness.

The floors were gratings of split palm wood, but a great portion was planked, and on this solid part a large fireplace was built of clay.

In the centre hung a rack, from which the joints of pork are suspended at feast-times, and beneath were placed boards to catch falling fat and grease.

Strings of pigs' jaws were hung across the upper part of the roof, and showed the number of animals consumed at the last feast--a ceremony that sometimes lasts a month.

The pigs, which are killed for these occasions by being speared through the heart, are doubtless an introduced species, for they attain immense proportions and are of many colours:--black and white, brown, brown and white, etc. The young, however, are all striped when born.

Adjacent to these "Town Halls"[20] are the stores of the Burmese traders, some buildings which are equivalent to the hospital of civilisation, and several maternity houses, where women take up their residence shortly before confinement.[21]

The starting-point in life, and also the place of departure, is for the Nicobarese of this village one and the same, for next to the house appointed for his birth is another--the "House of Pollution"--to which he is carried to die; and yet a few paces further is the burial-field, with its group of grave-posts, where his body will be bestowed for a time. Not for long will it rest even there, for in a few years the skeleton will be disinterred and cast into the jungle--the skull alone, if he has been a man of some importance in life, being allowed to find in the grave an abiding place.

The sh.o.r.es of Kar Nicobar are in places very low, and during bad weather the waves have been known to roll up the beach and flood _Elpanam_ a foot in depth, carrying away canoes, etc. To subdue the sea on these occasions, _tamiluanas_ (medicine-men) and their followers, adorned with garlands, walk in procession along the beach, with devil-destroying rods and leaves, with which they strike the water, and then surround _Elpanam_ with palm leaves, and perform other ceremonies.

On the outskirts of the village, we saw here and there small huts called _Talik n'gi_--the place of the baby. To these, mothers come from _Elpanam_ with the newborn child, and spend several months in solitude, attended only by their husbands, before returning to the village--a very sensible proceeding, and one worthy of imitation in more civilised communities. It seems only common justice that any unpleasantness caused by ourselves in our earliest moments should be confined to those most responsible for our appearance. So the Kar Nicobarese appear to think, and have accordingly taken measures to prevent new arrivals becoming a nuisance to their future companions, for many of the houses in the village contained perhaps twenty inmates; doubtless, also, it is well for babies not to be subjected to too much companionship and attention.[22]

Again in the village we made the acquaintance of the oldest inhabitant, yclept "Friend of England," who, judging from the number of his _chits_, is a man of some note and many acquaintances.

Clothed at first in an infinitesimal native garment, he retired for a few moments, and then appeared in white jacket, knickerbockers, and top hat, carefully brushed in the wrong direction. He, too, would pay us a visit on board, provided that liquid sustenance were afforded; and having satisfied himself on this point, he intimated that we might count on his appearance that afternoon.

Our attention was attracted by a somewhat rude mechanical contrivance, beneath a tree, which we were told was a press for extracting oil from coconuts. Two large blocks of wood, one above the other, were placed closely against the trunk. In the upper surface of the topmost log a shallow depression had been made, and from this a channel ran to one edge, which ended in a kind of lip. In the trunk itself a hole had been scooped, to receive the end of a long beam of wood.

A quant.i.ty of coconut kernel having been placed in the basin, the beam is inserted in the tree, and a native standing on the outer end, by jumping up and down exerts so much pressure on the coconut that the oil oozes out, and running down the channel, drips from the lip into an earthenware pot placed beneath.

Here and there about the houses stood a kind of bench-seat, that was merely the limb of a tree with several of the branches left projecting, and trimmed in such a way that the whole piece would balance firmly.

We obtained a number of birds in the trees about the village; one in particular (_Ixora_, sp.?), whose leafless branches bore a quant.i.ty of large red flowers, was frequented by flocks of white-eyes (_Zosterops_(?), sp. nov.), munias, and sunbirds, (_Arachnechthra_(?), sp. nov.), and by the chestnut-rumped myna (_Sturnia erythropygia_), a bird only known from this island, although we later collected on Kachal a new species that closely resembles it.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Oil Press (Kar Nicobar).]

The canoes (_ap_) belonging to the village were drawn up on the sh.o.r.e of Sawi Bay, for the other beach is fully exposed to the monsoon, and also fronted by an awkward reef. These vessels--all dug-outs--constructed from a single trunk (_Calophyllum spectabile_),[23] are very narrow in proportion to their length, and of graceful shape. After the canoe is hollowed, it is somewhat spread out by cross-pieces of wood, which are lashed from gunwale to gunwale, at intervals of about a foot. To give the requisite stability, an outrigger is attached:--To two projecting spars or wings lashed to the canoe, a log of very light wood (_Sterculia alata_), about three-quarters the length of the hull, and sharp at either end, is fastened, and the correct level of this float is maintained by each wing being bound to, and resting in, the angle made by three intersecting pairs of hardwood pegs, which are driven into the outrigger. The vessels are further provided with ornamental projecting stem- and stern-pieces (_C. inophyllum_), carved in a variety of designs, and sometimes painted red. No paint or wood-oil is used on the canoes, but the outer surface of the hull is charred all over, with the idea of protecting it from the effects of the water.

The paddles are about 4 feet long, very light and thin, made of a hard red-brown wood (_Garcinia speciosa_), with lancet-shaped blades, and handles without any form of cross-piece, but flattened at the top.

In the afternoon, Offandi came on board, and after drinking a gla.s.s of rum, begged for a bottleful to take ash.o.r.e. As this request was not complied with, he cried threateningly in a menacing tone, "What, you refuse me then?" but calmed down on learning, that, although we were not at liberty to supply him with spirits "for consumption off the premises," he could have what he wanted whenever he liked to come aboard. A bottle of Eno fully restored his good humour, and drew forth expressions of friendship: "You good man, I love you; you do me good turn, I make return." This reciprocity is the basis of Kar Nicobarese relations with strangers--value for value, and no gifts; although Offandi once presented us with an edible bird's-nest without asking for an equivalent.

One man, "Sweet William" of Lapati, carried this trait so far, that he wanted a steamer to take him to England, in order that he might there build a house for himself, and occupy a piece of land in lieu of the plot at M[=u]s that has been purchased by the Indian Government.

The headman was, for a Nicobarese, a very travelled individual, for he had spent a month in Calcutta, ten days in Penang, and various periods at Port Blair; and as a result, had a really working knowledge of several languages. English, Hindustani, and Kamortan, he speaks well, and has some acquaintance with Malay and Burmese.[24]

Visits to the _Terrapin_ occurred frequently during our stay, but none were of long duration, for a growing squeamishness on the part of our guests generally cut them short.

Although accustomed to travel in canoes, they could not withstand the motion of the schooner. Indeed, for the whole time we lay in Sawi Bay, the _Terrapin_, on account of the swell that set into the bay, so rocked and rolled at her anchor that life on board was scarcely comfortable.

The fiddle was always on the table, the preparation of our specimens went on under difficulties, and at night sleep was almost impossible unless we wedged ourselves on our mattresses by means of extra cushions and pillows. The vessel frequently took water over her sides, until at times it almost seemed that she would roll her masts out. We generally had to exercise the greatest care in leaving or boarding the ship, and yet with it all the sea was quite unbroken save for the line of surf along the beach. The bigger trading-vessels--brigs and barquentines--anch.o.r.ed more off sh.o.r.e, and, because of their greater size, were scarcely affected by the motion.

Whenever the tide was low, the reef-bordered portions of the coast were always frequented by various parties of natives, busily occupied in searching in the pools and under the coral boulders for fish, crabs, and molluscs; at night, when the sea was calm, bright fires blazed on the water and the sh.o.r.e, and marked where fish-spearing was going on from sheltered ledges of rock or slowly-moving canoes.

Of all the people, "Friend of England" was perhaps the most amusing. He was infected with the garrulity of old age, and made the most of his opportunities by unblushing mendicancy.

As he came alongside, sitting--a very dignified figure in top-hat and white knickerbockers--upright and motionless in his canoe, which was manned by juvenile paddlers, he always, as he neared the schooner, took from his pocket an old silk cravat and arranged it round his neck.

After a few coconuts or oranges had been handed up, the old man would come below and shake hands all round. "I want smoke cigar, I want drink rum," was followed by a prompt refusal of anything smaller than a tumbler. Then would come the invariable preamble: "You my friend, I your friend; we give presents and make return,"--with reference to the coconuts; followed by demands for medicine, turpentine, camphor, quinine, scent, and Eno; and as all his wants could not be satisfied, he professed he could not understand why on earth we had come without these things. When we came again we were to bring all of them, and we should then be great friends. He desired that we would convey the following to every one at home--foreigners he did not like:--"You go tell all men--Come here, come here, come here. I Friend of England, I good man.

You bring much medicine, you give me--we be great friends, I make return. I plenty good man; I speak true, I no lie!"

He carried a large number of _chits_ from officers of ships that had called here during many years past, and was very anxious that we should add to the number.[25]

Poor old "Friend of England"! his lines are no longer cast in pleasant places. His last wife, the widow of a friend, became blind, and he can no longer obtain another on account of his old age; he has become estranged from his son because of his too amorous conduct towards the latter's wife, and has had to pay several fines on account of similar behaviour towards other neighbours.

Our last glimpse of him as he made for the sh.o.r.e, after having been a.s.sisted to his canoe, generally caught him in the act of undoing his cherished necktie and restoring it, carefully folded, to his pocket.

One day--when we had so far broken through our rule as to give him a bottle of rum and water to take ash.o.r.e "for medicine after we had gone"--going a couple of hours later into the village, we found "Friend of England" tottering up a path, and tried to take his portrait. But the old scamp, who all his life had lived in the sun, refused on this occasion to come out of the shade, and was so afflicted with involuntary staggers, that the result of several exposures was a very qualified success, and lost much of the impressiveness of the original, through his unwillingness to don his necktie in the customary Byronic style.

One of our guides about the island was "Frank Thompson," one of Mr Solomon's "most promising pupils, and a sincere Christian"--a rather stupid-looking youth, who had spent some years at the Port Blair School.

I fear that we regarded him with some contempt, for he seemed to have developed into nothing better than a hanger-on at the Agency, and although he spoke English fairly well, and could doubtless read and write a little, in the jungle he proved to be quite useless. Birds he could scarcely ever see; he did not know the way about, and after a few miles, he was blowing and panting, and groaning inquiries as to how much farther he was to go. Thompson however could beg as well as the rest, nor was he out of his element when the rum and cigars were being pa.s.sed round.

A very different character was my _shikari_ "Little John," native name unknown. This man was perhaps, on the whole, the best specimen physically of a Nicobarese that we came across. A handsome, rather scornful, face, with aquiline nose, was only spoiled by the occurrence of the Mongolian fold in the inner corner of the eyelids. His curly black hair was worn long, in a thick bushy ma.s.s, as far as his shoulders, where it was cut off straight across. Though only 5 feet 6 inches in height, he was splendidly built: was 40 inches round the chest, 13-1/2 inches round the biceps, and 15 inches round the calf. The natives admitted that he was about the strongest man in the village of M[=u]s.[26]

He was awfully keen on collecting; could creep noiselessly through the jungle, and saw birds that I took long to distinguish, even after he had pointed them out. He was also a good "pot-shot," and nothing delighted him more than to carry the gun, and after having it loaded with cartridge suitable to the occasion, to fire at and bring down the specimen, when he would hand the weapon to me and dash away amongst the undergrowth to retrieve his booty, bringing it back with the greatest care.

He was an unwearying hunter, and would often creep about for ten minutes at a time, under some tree, in order to point out for my approval, and get a clear shot at, some bird whose presence he had discovered in the dense foliage.

He used to accompany us on board the schooner, and after having breakfasted with the crew, would sit in the cabin with a cigar, watching us as we worked at the skins, and improving his little English by constant inquiries: "How you call dis? What you call dat?"

The desire of the Nicobarese to learn words, and acquire the name of anything they do not know, is great, and their powers of memory are astonishing. The exercise of these linguistic abilities is most marked in the headmen, or "captains" as they love to be called--a t.i.tle inherited from the times when English skippers used to trade amongst these islands, and bestow by request their own names (and others less complimentary, but more pointed) on the natives they particularly favoured in their commercial transactions.

Nor were these our only acquaintances. "Sweet William" (who had a mouth and teeth like a shark's), W. L. Distant, Tom Noddy, Lady Clara, Sam Weller, and many others, came to see us. There was, too, Mr Corney Grain, who, many people may not be aware, is chief of a village in Sawi Bay, and who dresses in two yards of pink ribbon.

In this way we were never at a loss for company, for when the above were engaged, there was always a reserve in the persons of Jack Robinson, Tom Tuson, Kingfisher, Young Edwin, James Snooks, Lorenzo, Lady-killer, and others.

Mr Solomon's efforts in education have received little support from the community; for by handing over their children to his discipline, the parents lose their a.s.sistance in the routine of daily work, no small portion of which falls to the younger generation, since almost all special work is done by small boys. These are very helpful in climbing the coco palms for the nuts required for barter, and they are of much a.s.sistance to the foreign traders also, who, to induce the boys to aid them, supply them with food, and give them presents of tobacco and other things. However, some fifteen or twenty boys, from 8 to 14 years of age, have now been given up to the mission school,[27] to receive a little daily instruction and drill, on condition that the onus of feeding and clothing them shall not fall upon the parents.

Out of school hours these boys make themselves generally useful by fetching and carrying, preparing food, etc., and acting as crew of the agent's canoe.

That such a life is not universally pleasing to the youngsters themselves, is witnessed by the fact that a short time ago one of them ran away to the jungle, where he remained, and was able to support himself, until caught and brought back after a three months'

disappearance.

He was a mischievous-looking boy, who found it hard to refrain from grinning while his portrait was being taken, for I secured his likeness as affording a marked example of the features of prognathism and epicanthus as occurring among the Nicobarese.

We found the services of these boys most welcome on several occasions.

Frequently the surf in the bay was sufficient to promise at the least a thorough wetting when leaving sh.o.r.e for the schooner in our own boat. It was, as a rule, simple enough to land, but the reverse proceeding was a less simple matter. In such a case, we used one of the native canoes and a crew of mission lads.

After loading the light hull with our impedimenta, it was an easy business to place it at the water's edge, and, at a suitable opportunity, run it out into waist-deep water, jump on the almost uncapsizable hull, and with quickly-grasped paddles--no troublesome operation of shipping lengthy oars in row-locks--force the slender craft beyond the breakers. Arrived at the schooner, a biscuit apiece seemed to be considered ample reward by our young friends (biscuits, stale bread, and old crusts are in great request among the Nicobarese), who, after disposing of them, would return to their canoe and disappear into the darkness with cheery farewell cries: "Good-_night_; good-night, sar; _go-o-od_-night."