ON THE ISLANDS NANCOWRY AND COMARTY. BY LIEUT. R. H. COLEBROOKE. THE 'HE island of Nancowry, or Soury, as it is sometimes called, is nearly centrically situated among the Nicobar isles. Its length may be about eight miles, and its breadth nearly equal. The island of Comarty, which is near it, is more extensive, but does not perhaps contain more solid land, being excavated by a very large bay from the sea. The space between these two islands forms a capacious and excellent harbour, the eastern entrance of which is sheltered by another island, called Trikut, lying at the distance of about a league. The inlet from the west is narrow, but sufficiently deep to admit the largest ships when the wind is fair. The Danes have long maintained a small settlement at this place, which stands on the northernmost point of Nancowry, within the harbour. A serjeant and three or four soldiers, a few black slaves, and two rusty old pieces of ordnance, compose the whole of their establishment. They have here two houses, one of which, built entirely of wood, is their habitation; the other, formerly inhabited by their missionaries, serves now for a storehouse. These islands are in general woody, but contain likewise some portions of clear land. From the sum mits of their hills the prospects are often beautiful and romantic. The soil is rich, and probably capable of producing all the various fruits and vegetables common to hot climates. The natural productions of this kind which mostly abound, are cocoa-nuts, papias, plantains, limes, tamarinds, beetle-nuts and the milóri*, a species of bread-fruit; yams, and other roots, are cultivated and thrive; but rice is here unknown. The mangostain-tree, whose fruit is so justly extolled, grows wild; and pine-apples of a delicious flavour are found in the woods. The Nicobar isles are but thinly inhabited, and some of them are not inhabited at all. Of those we visited, Nancowry and Comarty appeared to be the best peopled, There were thirteen villages, we were told, upon both islands; each village might contain, upon an average, fifty or sixty people; so that the whole population of these two will scarcely amount to eight hundred, The natives of Nancowry, and of the Nicobar islands in general, live on the sea-shores, and never erect their habitations inland t. Their houses are of a circular form, and are covered with elliptical domes, thatched with grass, and the leaves of cocoa-nuts. They are raised upon piles to the height of six or eight feet above the ground; the floor and sides are laid with planks, and the ascent is by a ladder. In those * Mr. Fontana has given an accurate and learned description of this fruit. Vide Asiatic Researches, 3d vol. p. 161, + The great Nicobar island is perhaps an exception, where, it is said, a race of men exists, who are totally different in their colour and manners. They are considered as the aborigines of the country. They live in the interior parts, among the mountains, and commit frequent depredations on the peaceable inhabitants of the coasts, 2 bays or inlets which are sheltered from the surf, they erect them sometimes so near the margin of the water as to admit the tide to flow under, and wash away the ordure from below. In front of their villages, and a little advanced in the water, they plant beacons of a great height, which they adorn with tufts made of grass, or the bark of some tree. These objects are discernible at a great distance, and are intended probably for landmarks; their houses, which are overshadowed by thick groves of cocoa-nut trees, seldom being visible from afar. The Nicobareans, though indolent, are in general robust and well limbed. Their features are somewhat like the Malays, and their colour is nearly similar. The women are much inferior in stature to the men, but more active in all domestic affairs. Contrary to the custom of other natives, they shave the hair of their heads, or keep it close cropt, which gives them an uncouth appearance, in the eyes of strangers at least. The dress of both sexes, their mode of life, and some of their customs, have been so ably described by Mr. Fontana, that little needs to be said of them here. I have only to state, in addition, an extraordinary ceremony which they annually perform, in honour of the dead, On the anniversary of this festival, if it can be so called, their houses are decorated with garlands of flowers, fruits, and branches of trees. The people of each village assemble, drest in their best attire, at the principal house in the place, where they spend the day in a convivial manner; the men, sitting apart from the women, smoke tobacco, and intoxicate themselves; while the latter are nursing their children, and employed in preparation for the mournful business of the night. At a certain hour of the afternoon, announced |