CHAPTER III
THE NICOBARESE
The Evolution of the Nicobarese—Description—Character—Language—Legends of Origin—Origin of Coco Palms—Invention of Punishments—Superstitious Beliefs—Diseases—Medicines—Marriage—Matriarchal System—Divorce—Polygamy—Courtship—Property—Takoia—Headmen—Social State—Position of Women and Children—Domestic Animals—Weapons—Tools—Fishing—Turtle—Food—Beverages—Narcotics and Stimulants—Cleanliness—Clothing—Ornaments—Coiffure—Amusements—Arts and Industries—Cultivation—Produce—Traders and Commerce.
If the Shom Peṅ 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 Peṅ 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.
MAN OF NANKAURI; A HEADMAN OF THE SHOM PEṄ.
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 Peṅ 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 Tenasserim 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-shore 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 Tenasserim 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.
"TANAMARA" OF NANKAURI; "TANAMARA" OF NANKAURI (IN PROFILE); A HEADMAN OF THE SHOM PEṄ; HEADMAN OF THE SHOM PEṄ (IN PROFILE).
"All things considered, it may be inferred that the Archipelago was originally occupied by primitive peoples of Malayan stock, now represented by the Shom Peṅ 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 homogenous, 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 classes, 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 70¾ inches; the minimum, 59¼ 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 sturdy-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 pronounced curls. It is somewhat coarse, 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 axillæ 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 Peṅ), 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.
MAN OF KAR NICOBAR; WOMAN OF KAR NICOBAR;
KAR NICOBAR BOY (Showing Epicanthus);
KAR NICOBAR BOY (in profile, Showing Prognathism).
The nose is generally broad, and coarse 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 Peṅ of the interior of Great Nicobar employ a speech that is dissimilar to the others.
WOMAN AND MAN WEARING THE "TÁ-CHÖKLA," KAR NICOBAR.
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 bitch, 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—tá-chökla—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.
At last some wise men brought to the trees an old man who was dying, and made him taste of the nuts, to find out their qualities! The old man accordingly ate one, and found it to be very delicious, and from continually eating nuts he became very strong, and grew to look like a young man.
Thenceforth the people began to make use of the coconut!
In the old days it was the custom to kill men for any offence, grave or simple. But at length the elders, finding that the population had greatly diminished thereby, held a council, and introduced the system of killing pigs, burning houses, felling trees, breaking canoes, and destroying clothes, etc., and this method is continued at the present day side by side with the former.
The people seldom have open fighting among themselves, neither do they use their fists, or flog. In extreme cases only (witchcraft) do they commit murder.
The Nicobarese have no conception of a Supreme Being, or a future state, but there is a universal belief in evil spirits, who are in part ghosts of the wicked, and who can be propitiated by offerings and kept away by exorcisms.
MAN AND WOMAN OF KAR NICOBAR (in profile).
These creations of the imagination, who in the northern island are called Síyas, seem much akin to the Náts of Indo-China, but are far less localised, and, as a rule, have no particular tree, rock, or stream for their abode. They are the cause of every misfortune and disease that occurs to man, but death in the ordinary course of things is considered to be a natural event.
“Scare-devil,” or device for exorcising evil spirits (Kachal).
It would appear that in Kar Nicobar, Teressa, and Chaura, where the superstitious practices are nearly alike, some idea is entertained of spirits not altogether inimical to mankind; but in the other islands, whose beliefs are all homogenous, the Iwis are all harmful to human beings, and are kept at a distance by a redundancy of charms and talismans that does not occur in the north.[156]
The latter, which include various objects, such as figures of men, women, animals, etc., pictures, banners, and so on, are none of them regarded as idols or worshipped, neither are they fetishes—the instruments of spirits, or themselves endowed with life—although those of them representative of living objects are from time to time given such food as pork or coconuts. They merely act as "scare-devils," putting to flight the demons of sickness and guarding their constructors from any misfortune. They are effective only on behalf of those who make them, and at such person's death it is the custom to destroy or discard the talismans.
SPECIMENS OF "HENTÁ-KÓI."
Made and first used in times of sickness to frighten away the offending evil spirits.
Nicobarese Talisman.
“Scare-devil,” or device for exorcising evil spirits (Kachal).
The natives have no temples or any form of worship, but there have come into being shamans or priest-doctors, known as tamiluanas and menluanas, who have the power of communicating with the spirits, and by means of certain ceremonies, in conjunction with the use of rods, particular leaves, and ashes, periodically, by open warfare and by magic, drive the malignant demons from such places in man's neighbourhood as they may have intruded into, or defeat them when prevailing disease or misfortune can be traced to their agency.
These practices and beliefs, which it would be incorrect to class together under the name of religion, are not accompanied by any moral element. Their code of ethics has no connection whatever with the form of malevolent spiritualism which they entertain, but is entirely an affair of public opinion and social convention.
The cult of the natives as it exists in the south, with its multiplicity of charms, "medicine," and demon-scaring figures and objects, is probably only an isolated case of a practice widely spread throughout the Malayan Archipelago—in Sumatra, Borneo, and other islands, and even amongst the Papuans still further east.[157]
On the other hand, it is not at all impossible, in view of the natives' acquisitiveness of foreign ideas, that most of their practices arise from a corrupted interpretation of the, in other respects, futile teachings of the numerous missionaries who have laboured in vain in the islands, complicated by an additional jumble of tenets adopted from other strangers with whom they have come into contact, while, in particular, the figures, pictures, and charms of many localities may be to some extent merely a degraded survival of the religious paraphernalia of the Jesuit missionaries.
Female Talisman (Kachal). Female Talisman, “Kario” (Nankauri).
One might adduce in support of this theory the fact that superstition and its accessories thrive most strongly in the places where the missionaries as a rule establish themselves—Kar Nicobar and Nankauri Harbour.
A "HENTÁ."
Painted and first suspended inside hut in time of sickness, to gratify good spirits and scare away demons.
(Specimen from Nankauri.)
Fever, colic, coughs, rheumatism, and sore and inflamed eyes, are not unfrequent ailments. Syphilis also occurs, and has probably been introduced by the traders, or by the Nicobarese who have visited Calcutta and Moulmein in their vessels.
Itch (tinea circinata tropica) is in some localities very prevalent among the natives, who are also liable to attacks of a mild form of elephantiasis throughout the Archipelago. It is said that in Chaura from one-third to one-half the population are so diseased in one way or the other. Cases of yaws occur from time to time among children.
Eno's fruit salt, camphor, castor-oil, turpentine, and quinine, are the principal features of the Nicobarese pharmacopœia.
Eno's fruit salt mixed with water, with a little powdered camphor and turpentine added, is given twice a day for colic. For fever, a little quinine is added to the same mixture.
Sandalwood and jessamine oil are held in great repute as aphrodisiacs, and are purchased from the Burmese traders in small quantities at a very high price.
Faith, however, is not always placed in the efficacy of mundane remedies. A woman who had been ill for a year, when asked if she would take medicine, replied, "The devil has caused this illness, and it cannot be cured by medicine. Only the tamiluanas can cure me by driving the devil out of me." She preferred sugar and biscuits to drugs.
Malaria, which is perhaps the indisposition by which they are most frequently attacked, is always attributed to demonic agency.
Marriage amongst the Nicobarese is of a class that is considered to be a modification of the matriarchal system, and that exists widely spread in this portion of the world amongst the Malayan and Indo-Chinese peoples.
Until he marries, a man considers himself a member of his father's household, but after that event he calls himself the son of his father-in-law, and becomes a member of his wife's family, leaving the house of his own parents, or even his village, if the woman dwell elsewhere.[158]
Only the chiefs, or wealthy men whose positions in the village are of influence, are exceptions to this law; they are permitted by custom to bring their wives to their own houses.[159]
There is no law of exogamy amongst them—a man marries in his own village, village-group, or even house; for although connections between blood relatives are disapproved of, there is nothing to prevent such taking place, except public opinion, which may often be disregarded with impunity.
The woman on her marriage brings no special dower into the partnership, neither is there any custom by which the man is compelled to place a certain amount of property at the disposal of her parents. Each has a right to a certain proportion of their common household possessions, and their worldly status improves by inheritance and by their own efforts.
Those marriages are most successful from which children are numerous, for these make life easier by taking a large amount of the daily and special work upon themselves, and by acting as a support and provision to their parents in old age.
There is very little that is binding in the marriage state of these people, cohabitation with its duties being co-existent with mutual consent. So long as they like each other and are contented with their position, the couple remain together; but the absence of children, illness, old age, and many extremely trivial reasons are sufficient cause for separation.[160] The divorce is a matter for the two most concerned only; there are no public proceedings to take place, no ceremonies to undergo.[161]
Most of the adult members of the population have been married three or four times, a goodly number far more often. The children of the partnership, if young, go with the more influential of the parents; when older, they exercise an individual choice.[162]
From the nature of the marriage, the woman as often divorces her husband as vice versâ.
The natives as a race are monogamous, but now and again polygamy is found to occur. It is practised, however, only by the chiefs and more wealthy men, who live in their own houses, and can afford to domicile their wives in separate dwellings.[163]
Cases of adultery are punished by a fine, but there is no established amount. The village elders consult together as to what the seducer shall be mulcted of, and generally decide on a certain number of pigs, which are cut up and distributed among the community.[164]
There seems to be no objection to a girl having as many lovers as she likes before marriage, and altogether the state when entered upon is one that presses very lightly on the people. There are few unwritten laws on the subject, and public opinion is of hardly any weight.[165]
Courtship, like marriage, is merely a variation of the Malayan custom of nocturnal visiting, much simplified, however, by the absence of any ceremonies to mark its change into a more stable relationship.
When a man desires to marry a girl, he contracts a friendship with her family, assists her in her daily work, and sleeps for a time in whatever house she may occupy. During the night he seeks the girl, who will be sleeping among others, and by blowing on the burning end of a cigarette he obtains light enough to discriminate. The efforts of the man to embrace and caress her the girl withstands vigorously with blows and scratches, so that his face and chest are often torn and covered with blood. So things continue for several nights perhaps, the man suffering patiently the while, until, if she is willing to take him as a husband, she yields herself. This is their nuptials, and concludes the marriage.[166] Thenceforth, the man holds to his wife's house rather than his own family's, but often the parents will learn nothing for some time.[167]
Sometimes the girl makes the path of courtship less easy, by changing her sleeping-hut from night to night. This difficulty the lover generally overcomes by employing small boys to follow her about and inform him of her resting-place.
Occasionally the man, following the girl home at night after a dance, etc., will meet with an attempt at resistance on the part of the other women dwelling there, when he essays to enter the house she has chosen.[168]
A man wishing to escape the consequences of marriage, and thinking he was unrecognised in the darkness by others during his intercourse with the girl, will nearly always be identified by some of the women present. If he refuses to carry out his share of the contract, a council is called of the principal men of his village, and they fine him so many pigs, which form the material for a general feast.
In the northern islands, the "Town Halls" in the Elpanams are the property of the community in general, for they are the work of the whole village. The products of the forest are common to all, but it is now necessary to obtain the headman's permission before occupying a piece of land near the village, to build a house or make a garden on.
Everything which the village as a whole makes or purchases, as the Elpanam houses or Chaura canoes, is common property, but the result of individual work belongs to the individual. Plantations, coconuts,[169] canoes, and houses, are private possessions, liable, however, to family claims founded on common family work.
Both sexes inherit, and property is generally divided equally among the heirs.
There is in Kar Nicobar a method of guarding property termed takoia, which at first is liable to be taken for a case of tabu or pomali. Posts and sticks, decorated with coloured rags and coconut husks, are erected near gardens, plantations, etc. They have no superstitious significance whatever, and only act as a kind of notice of title, warning all and sundry that the surroundings are private property. Anyone discovered stealing the same is fined, i.e., the usual pigs are confiscated to feast the community.[170]
The village headman and his deputy are a recent institution of the authorities to simplify the procedure of controlling the natives. The opinion of the village is generally taken on the question, and, if approved of, their nominees are invested with a certificate, a flag, and a suit of clothes, presented yearly.
The headmen can command no obedience, and enforce no laws; they work only by persuasion; and, with the more influential men, deliberate on vexed questions, and impose fines, which seem always paid. Such fines do not accrue to the benefit of the injured party, but of the community, who enjoy a feast as the result, in which the culprit himself takes part.
As the headman now stands, he is the successor of the village "captain" or presiding elder, who had no other functions but to represent the community on the arrival of ships, and to regulate barter. His office and title were instituted by the natives when relations with European vessels became frequent, in order that they might have some representative to correspond to the commanding officer.
Before this epoch, everybody seems to have been on a footing of complete social equality, as, with the exceptions above-noted, is the case to-day.
Everyone, even children, is his own master; but persons who have been abroad, by virtue of their experience, are respected and have some authority, as also have the aged and wealthy. But there is no one who has power to exercise control over even a single village, save in the way of carrying out popular ideas.
A "primitive form of socialism exists. Chiefs are unknown. Certain individuals, by force of character ... have more influence than others ... but this influence seems to be at best but slight, and each person is obedient to himself alone, or to some unwritten code of public opinion"[171]—really the essence of the whole system.
The position of women is, and always has been, in no way inferior to that of the other sex. They take their full share in the formation of public opinion, discuss publicly with the men matters of general interest to the village, and their opinions receive due attention before a decision is arrived at. In fact, they are consulted on every matter, and the henpecked husband is of no extraordinary rarity in the Nicobars.
In Kar Nicobar, where the villages are divided into groups of several houses, a woman occasionally succeeds her late husband as sub-chief, on account of the knowledge she may possess of the regulations in vogue, the property and customs of her neighbours.
Women take a fair share in the day's work. They do the cooking, and the whole family eats together; the men build the houses, canoes, etc.; both sexes may be seen working in company in the plantations, fishing on the reefs, and paddling the canoes.
It is only the women in Chaura who manufacture pottery; but as the art is a monopoly, they must be looked on as rather privileged than otherwise.
In fine, there is no actual division of labour, but all assist in whatever has to be done, from their earliest years. Although scarcely any obedience seems due from children to their parents, most of the ordinary tasks of life are undertaken by young people of both sexes, and much deference is paid to age, especially when it is combined with wealth.
The domestic animals of the Nicobarese are swine, cats, fowls, and dogs, the latter generally of the pariah variety; but now and again in the southern islands a mongrel chow is met with, a cross between the chow and some animal brought thither by the Chinese junks. All are the descendants of introduced species. They are fed on little else but coconut, and support life on this and the results of their own foraging. Pigeons, parrots, and monkeys are occasionally to be seen in captivity, but the natives have not attempted to systematically utilise the megapode; all the laying-places near the villages are, however, known, and periodically overhauled for eggs.[172]
Weapons, in the strict sense of the word, do not exist now among the Nicobarese; they possess no shields, swords, clubs, or spears for warlike purposes only. The Burmese dáo, their most common implement—obtained from the ship-traders—is used for everyday purposes and for house-building, agriculture, canoe-fitting, etc., while the spears and harpoons used for pig-killing, cattle-hunting, and fishing are nearly all constructed by attaching a suitable haft to the variously shaped heads which are made locally. A fishing spear of native make is of the many-pronged wooden type (Mal., s'rempang) common throughout the East—a bunch of diverging barbed skewers spliced into a haft with lashings of cord or rattan.
The Shom Peṅ manufacture a javelin or dart, which is used indiscriminately for warfare or the chase as occasion may require; it is made of a single piece of heavy wood, and is possibly the same kind of implement as was in general use among the Nicobarese before the introduction of iron heads.[173]
Fifty and more years ago, the natives obtained numbers of muskets—of which they were much afraid—by barter with European traders; but recently the Indian Government has prohibited the possession of these weapons, and whenever any are discovered they are immediately confiscated.
1. Shom Peṅ Spear (Great Nicobar). 2 and 3, "Hanoi cha," Canoe Decorations for bow, stern, and outrigger (Kar Nicobar). 4, Turtle Spear. 5 and 6, Wooden Fishing Spears. 7, Ornamental Canoe Stern-piece, "Misoka ap" (Kar Nicobar). 8, 9, and 10, Iron Fishing Spears.
In common with the other Malayan peoples, they do not seriously employ the bow and arrow. Crossbows are in use among them for shooting birds, but it is evident that such implements are not the invention of the natives. The stock is fashioned like a gun-butt, and the arrow rests in a groove running along the top of the fore-end, and is kept in position by means of three half-hoop pegs of brass wire. The bow is perfectly round in section, tapering towards the ends, and the release is of the string and peg variety, hitching over the top of the trigger. The arrows, which are unfeathered and half the diameter of a lead pencil, have for point a sharpened nail attached by a wrapping of sheet-tin.
These bows have either been copied from the weapons of the early voyagers, or, more probably, have been introduced by the Burmese, amongst whom and the Karens there exists an article almost exactly similar.
Tools of European model are now common, and for fashioning canoes, houses, etc., imported axes, saws, adzes, planes, and spokeshaves are used, in addition to the dáo.
The latter is never fitted with a handle, and from constant use of it thus, thick ridges of skin and corns form on the inside of the natives' hands. It is found that the bare tang is very convenient for picking up coconuts; for retaining the weapon when up in the palm trees, by sticking it into the bark, thus leaving both hands free; for punching two holes in the opposite sides of a nut, through which the water may be extracted by suction; and for many other purposes.
The Nicobarese rarely use nets for fishing. Besides occasionally employing small casting nets purchased from traders,—the construction of which they never themselves attempt—they make and use a primitive net trap, which is baited and held a foot or two below the surface by the fisherman, who, on seeing a fish nibbling at the bait, promptly raises the trap, thereby catching the fish in the netting.
The fish are obtained either by hook and line (imported), or by spearing by day or at night with the aid of blazing torches of coconut leaf. Open-meshed traps of rattan, of various sizes and shapes, with funnel-shaped mouth leading towards the interior, are in common use, and are sunk in the sea-bottom in suitable places. They also construct weirs of coconut leaves (Tanánga—Kar Nicobar; Kan-Sháng—Nankauri), by means of which large quantities of fish are generally caught. These are employed only during the dry season when the sea is fairly calm.
Finally, the narcotic property possessed by the seeds of Barringtonia speciosa[174] is made use of; for, in pools and confined waters, the addition of a small quantity of a paste, made of the mashed kernels, acts like "tuba," causing all the fish present to become insensible and rise to the surface, where they may be collected at leisure.
Turtle are common about the islands, and many skulls are to be met with in the houses of the natives, by whom they are used for the expulsion of demons. They are captured when floating on the sea by means of a harpoon with a skewer-shaped iron head, which, when fast in the shell, detaches from the shaft and remains connected by a short piece of cord only.
Large quantities of fish are often caught, when the weather is favourable, by means of the kan-sháng, traps, etc., and, consequently, at times the natives live largely on fish. The staples of food throughout the year are coconuts and pandanus fruit, with bananas, yams, and occasionally other fruits and vegetables in small quantities. Fowls and pork can only be afforded now and then. Rice is used to a small extent, and is one of the articles for which the natives barter coconuts.
The fruit of the pandanus, which is an egg-shaped mass frequently attaining a diameter of 18 inches, consists of a cluster of fibrous drupes, the tops of which are sliced off as soon as gathered. Thus treated, it can be preserved for some weeks.
When preparing it for eating, these divisions are separated from the central core and placed in a pot over a layer of bamboos or a grating,[175] below which there is a little water; above them are laid yams, or whatever may be suitably cooked by that process, and the whole is then covered with leaves and steamed for some hours.[176]
The pulpy matter that it contains is then scraped out with a shell while the drupe is held on a heavy slab of wood, and then the bristly fibres with which the nutritious portion is intermixed are extracted from the latter by drawing threads of a sort of bass through the pasty mass resulting. Thus is obtained a smooth dough, of a yellowish colour and somewhat sweet taste, that has been likened in flavour to apple-marmalade. A portion of this (kow-en), with some grated coconut, and sometimes a piece of chicken or pork, constitutes the usual meal.
This food is often made up into leaf-covered bundles, in which state it acquires a distinctive, though not unpleasant, odour, and can be kept a long time.
The fibrous drupe, after treatment as above, is commonly used as a foot-brush[177] at many of the islands, for which purpose it is kept near the top of the hut-ladder for those entering the hut.
The principal beverages are the water of the green unripe coconut, and toddy, made by fermenting the sap of the coco palm, which is regularly bled at the crown into bamboo receptacles. The toddy is largely manufactured, and as it is no more intoxicating than strong ale, much has to be consumed before drunkenness results. Ordinary water is scarcely ever taken, and its use is almost entirely restricted to cooking.
For the last few years the authorities at Port Blair have attempted to inculcate in the natives a liking for tea, the taste for which they have fostered by presenting the headmen with quantities of the leaf, in the hope that it will, if it become popular, somewhat minimise the prevalent consumption of toddy, which, when largely indulged in, cannot but have a bad effect on the general health of the people.
Toddy, however, does not stand alone as an intoxicant: nearly everywhere one comes across the black, square bottles in which gin is conveyed to all parts of the world: occasionally brandy is inquired for, but on all the islands there is a demand for rum, and this seems to have been the favourite drink since it was introduced to the natives by British captains bartering for coconuts in the early part of the last century. At present, however, Chinese traders are the only smugglers, and the spirit they introduce, samshu, runs only occasional risk of confiscation, as the trade of the junks is for the most part in places seldom visited by the occasional patrolling steamer.
Tobacco is used by everyone—men, women, and children—both for chewing and smoking: the native cigarette is a very crude affair, composed of a small quantity of the weed and a large amount of a certain dried leaf. The tobacco finding most favour is of Chinese and Javanese manufacture, and cigars are much appreciated.
Betel-chewing is universal, and the quid—which undoubtedly acts as a stimulant—consists of areca-nut, lime, and the sireh leaf only, without the addition of gambier. The teeth of the Nicobarese are both large and prominent, and the continuous use of betel and tobacco stains them a brown and black colour that is much admired.
OLD NICOBARESE SKIRT, "NGONG."
In person, the natives, although generally clean, are less particular than tropical races as a rule: there are none of the fenced-in wells (panchurans, or bathing-screens) on the stream banks that one sees near all the villages of the Malays, but an occasional bath is taken by pouring the contents of a dozen coconut shells over the body. Clothing gets a rinse in the sea at intervals by way of cleansing.
At the present time the everyday dress is of red cotton, but for the first half and more of the last century the fashion ran all in blue. On ordinary occasions men wear a long strip of cotton, generally red, passing round the thighs and between the legs,[178] and women drape a fathom or two of cotton about the waist by twisting the ends together; but for other times there are cotton draperies, sarongs, Chinese coats and trousers, and also European garments, which, from top-hats to shirts, are in great demand.[179]
In the north a chaplet of areca palm spathe with loose ends (tá-chökla) is much worn, and the ear-lobes are pierced to retain short plugs of bamboo, half an inch in diameter, inlaid with silver and with silver pendants. From Kamorta southward the common head-dress is a similar chaplet of pandanus leaf (shanóang), or a coloured handkerchief or circlet of calico, and there is a plain ear-distender, one inch or more in diameter and three long, often shaped like a wedge: this is replaced on festive occasions by a large rosette of red and white cotton.
Other ornaments are bangles and anklets, made by twisting thick silver wire about the limb, and belts and necklaces made of rupees or smaller coins. Rings are worn, either of silver or shell.
Face and chest are sometimes covered with vermilion or saffron paint, but the natives do not employ any form of tattoo or scarification.
Hair is usually worn short by both sexes, but there is a more or less distinctive style or fashion at all the islands. On the occasion of a sudden or violent death at a village all its inhabitants are required to shave their heads, and the women their eyebrows as well.[180] Mourning for a relative is indicated in like manner as well as by other observances. With infants the head is often shaved for a time, and for the next few years the hair is kept short, in which way it is also worn by all ages and sexes. Boys as a rule have their heads cropped.
Fairly long hair is worn by many, but in no case is it ever permitted to grow below the shoulders; at that point it is cut across horizontally, and then, when bushy, the hair presents much the appearance represented in Assyrian and Egyptian records.
The Nicobarese possess no musical instrument of their own invention, but very occasionally some individual attempts to produce, without much success, a copy of something he has seen in the hands of foreigners—a violin, guitar, etc.
Two instruments are, however, in use among them: one, a seven-holed flageolet, which is Burmese, and the other, the danang, borrowed from the Indian "sitar," has three frets, a string of cane, and two sound-holes.[181] "It is a hollowed bamboo, about 2½ feet long and 3 inches in diameter, along the outside of which there is stretched from end to end a single string, made of the threads of a split rattan, and the place under the string is hollowed, to prevent it from touching. This instrument is played upon in the same way as a guitar" while rested on the knee.[182]
With the exception of dancing, singing, and feasting, there are hardly any organised amusements. The exact forms of the dances vary, but for special occasions new figures and songs are composed and assiduously practised. In the north-west, challenges for canoe races, or processions rather, circulate amongst the Kar Nicobar villages, and are taken part in by twenty or thirty men a-side. The large canoes are decorated, and the course is a long one—several miles along the coast from village to village. As the men sing at the top of their voices throughout the race, they are generally exhausted at the finish. The pace is not remarkable, and the canoes keep abreast throughout, neither seeming to mind which comes in first.
Wrestling is a favourite pursuit of the boys. There is no science or cunning displayed, and the rounds are very short, one or the other combatant going down at once.
Pig processions are a pastime indulged in by young men. A pig is tied beneath a pole, and, with one of their number seated astride of it, is borne, with songs, about the village by a party of youths in the evening.
In such villages as are situated near the calmer waters of harbours, little children amuse themselves by sailing models of canoes and junks.
The Nicobarese have no writing or pictography, and their attempts at ornamental work on articles of general utility are confined to the finials of the houses, the stem and stern posts of their canoes, and a little decorative carving on their wooden dishes.[183] Nevertheless, in the charms and talismans connected with their superstitious cult they betray a certain artistic ability, and their pictures, screens, and figures of birds, men, and animals, show not only good powers of observation, but a capacity and skill of no mean order, in interpreting and reproducing whatever may present itself to them.
As concerns metals, it appears that 200 years ago Jesuit missionaries discovered tin on Great Nicobar. Having regard to the proximity of the rich deposits of this metal in Sumatra and the Malayan Peninsula, it seems not improbable that the statement will some day be verified. At Kar Nicobar small quantities of iron pyrites are found. The art of working in iron is almost confined to Chaura, where the meráhtas and the best spear-heads are manufactured. The latter are, however, made at the other islands as well. Of weaving they have no knowledge, and prior to the introduction of cotton and cloth garments they clothed themselves in tapa or cloth made of the beaten bark of a tree at present believed to be the Ficus brevicuspis, also with girdles of split coconut leaves.
They are, however, expert basketmakers, and many-shaped baskets for various purposes are manufactured in different patterns of mesh, entirely out of the strips of rattan, or of the bark of the Maranta dichotoma.
What the sago is to the Papuan, the pandanus is to the Nicobarese, and its luxuriant natural growth renders unnecessary any extensive agricultural labour on his part. The other great support of life—the coconut—once planted, thrives without further attention, and for the rest, his fruits, bananas, and yams, require but the slightest amount of cultivation. The implement used in all cases seems to be the dáo only.
The islands produce no artificial material, and no raw merchandise is imported. Among themselves the natives trade in little more than pottery and canoes, and the only stores or bazaars are kept by foreigners who barter with the inhabitants. Coconuts, betel-nuts, rattan, mother-o'-pearl shells, trepang, and edible birds' nests, are the only trade commodities. The two latter are of minor importance, and are collected directly by the traders; the rattan comes from Great Nicobar only. Ambergris, for which the Nicobars were most noted in the Middle Ages, is still found, principally in the vicinity of Nankauri Harbour, and sold to traders.
All traders visiting the Nicobars have to obtain, either from Port Blair or from one of the local Government Agents, a license, at a cost of 1 rupee per man of the crew, which grants them "permission to visit ... for the purpose of trade during the present north-east monsoon season, on the condition that no person who may proceed thither by the vessel shall be permitted to remain behind ... after her departure."
BASKETS, TROUGHS, AND ARECA SPATHE FEEDING-DISH, NICOBAR ISLANDS.
Disagreements between the traders and natives are frequent, and, for the most part, seem due to the dishonesty and high-handed behaviour of the former. They get the natives into their debt—often forcing them to accept things they do not require—falsify accounts, and even resort at times to acts of violence for which they have incurred punishment at Port Blair.
The merchants arrive in various kinds of vessels, from large barquentines, brigs, brigantines, and schooners, to the baglas of the Indians and Burmese kallus of 20 or 30 tons. These come mostly from Calcutta, Bombay, Negapatam, and Moulmein. The Chinese, of course, come in their national junks, viâ Singapore, Acheen, or Penang.
Trade is always carried on by barter; coconuts are the standard of value, and although dollars and rupees change hands, they are employed by the natives more as ornaments than mediums of exchange.
The annual production of coconuts is believed to reach at the lowest estimate, 15,000,000; about one-third of which are exported and the remainder consumed and planted.
Except in the northern islands, there are very few paths, and those merely tracks through grass and jungle; local transport and intervillage communication at the central and southern islands are largely carried on by canoe.