times strong liquors; the votaries sing the praise of S'ami-Ramá-devi and the Sami-tree; and having worshipped them, carry away some of the leaves of the tree, and earth from the roots, which they keep carefully in their houses till the return of the festival of Semiramis in the ensuing year.

XXVII.

ON THE ANDAMAN ISLANDS.

BY LIEUT. R. H. COLEBROOKE.

HE Andaman Islands are situated on the eastern

Trice of the bay of Bengal, extending from

north latitude 10° 32′ to 13° 40. Their longitude is from 92° 6' to 61° 59′ east of Greenwich. The Great Andaman, or that portion of the land hitherto so called, is about one hundred-and-forty British miles in length, but not more than twenty in the broadest parts. Its coasts are indented by several deep bays, affording excellent harbours, and it is intersected by many vast inlets and creeks, one of which has been found to run quite through, and is navigable for small vessels. The Little Andaman is the most southerly of the two, and lies within thirty leagues of the

* It is perhaps a wonder, that islands so extensive, and lying in the track of so many ships, should have been, till of late years, so little known; that while the countries by which they are almost encircled, have been increasing in population and wealth, having been from time immemorial in a state of tolerable civilization, these islands should have remained in a state of nature, and their inhabitants plunged in the grossest ignorance and barbarity.

The wild appearance of the country, and the untractable and ferocious disposition of the natives, have been the causes, probably, which have deterred navigators from frequenting them; and they have justly dreaded a shipwreck at the Andamans more than the danger of foundering in the ocean; for although it is highly probable, that in the course of time many vessels have been wrecked upon their coasts, an instance does not occur of any of the crews being saved, or of a single person returning to give any account of such a disaster.

island Carnicobar. Its length is 28 miles by 17 in breadth, being more compact, but does not afford any harbour, although tolerable anchorage is found near its shores. The former is surrounded by a great number of smaller islands.

The shores of the main island, and indeed of all the rest, are in some parts rocky, and in a few places are lined with a smooth and sandy beach, where boats may easily land. The interior shores of the bays and creeks are almost invariably lined with mangroves, prickly fern, and a species of wild rattan; while the inland parts are covered with a variety of tall trees, darkened by the intermixture of creepers, parasiteplants, and underwood; which form altogether a vast and almost impervious forest, spreading over the whole country. The smaller islands are equally covered with wood; they mostly contain hills of a moderate height; but the main island is distinguished by a mountain of prodigious bulk, called from its shape the Saddle-Peak; it is visible in clear weather at the distance of twenty-five leagues, being nearly two thousand four hundred feet in perpendicular height. There are no rivers of any size upon these islands, but a number of small rills pour down from the mountains, af fording good water, and exhibiting in their descent over the rocks, a variety of little cascades, which are overshaded by the superincumbent woods.

The soil is various in different parts of these islands*; consisting of black rich mould, white and dark coloured clays, light sandy soil, clay mixed with pebbles of different colours, red and yellow earth; but the black mould is most common. Some white cliffs

*I am indebted to Major Kyd and Captain Archibald Blair for many of the subsequent remarks. The latter was employed by government in surveying these islands, and has the credit of having furnished the first complete and correct Chart of the Andamans.

are met with along the shores, which appear to have been originally clay, with a mixture of sand, hardened by time into the consistence of stone, but might be cut, and would probably answer for building. Near the southern extremity of the great island, where it is mountainous and rocky, some indications of minerals have appeared, particularly of tin. There is also a kind of freestone, containing a yellow shining spar, resembling gold-dust. Some of the hills bordering the coasts exhibit blue shistous strata at their bases, with the brescia, or pudding-stone; and some specimens of red ochre have been found, not unlike cinnabar.

The extensive forests with which these islands are over-run, produce a variety of trees fit for building, and many other purposes. The most common are the poon, dammer, and oil-trees; red wood, ebony, cotton-tree, and buddaum or almond-tree; soondry, chingry, and bindy; Alexandrian laurel, poplar, and a tree resembling the sattin-wood; bamboos, and plaas, with which the natives make their bows; cutch, affording the extract called Terra Japonica; the Melori, or Nicobar bread-fruit; aloes, ground rattans, and a variety of shrubs. A few fruit-trees have been found in a wild state; but it is remarkable that cocoanuts, so common in other tropical countries, are here almost unknown. Many of the trees afford timbers and planks fit for the construction of ships, and others might answer for masts. A tree grows here to an enormous size, one having been found to measure thirty feet in circumference, producing a very rich dye, that might be of use in manufactures.

The only quadrupeds yet discovered in these islands are wild hogs, monkeys, and rats. Guanas, and various reptiles abound; among the latter is the green