In the school that at one time existed at Port Blair for the Andamanese, it was found, that, as with all savages, the children, when educated were as proficient up to a certain age as the children of civilised peoples, but that point reached, they possessed no capacity for imbibing further knowledge.
As the natives gain by education in intelligence and tractability, they become fat and indolent, while their morals undergo much deterioration through contact with the convicts. The clearance of the jungle has been prejudicial to their health, and excessive tobacco-smoking among both sexes, which has been unrestricted, has seriously undermined their already enfeebled constitutions.
They possess very little vital power, and readily succumb to diseases, suffering much from febrile disorders, which give rise to pulmonary complaints—the chief cause of mortality among them. Very few reach the age of fifty, and the average duration of life is little over twenty years. Of the lesser ailments, skin diseases are very common.
Measles, to which over 20 per cent. of the population fell victims in 1877, was followed by an outbreak of syphilis, both introduced by convicts. The latter disease has caused much injury, and its spread has, it is believed, been greatly accelerated by the custom prevailing of the women suckling each other's children.
The "sense of shame" is but little developed, and the natives pay no attention to their own nudity, although by nature they are modest. Of the various objects worn, those only coming under the heading of clothing are the aprons or leaves worn with the girdle by the women, and always carefully adjusted.
Previous to marriage, which is not permitted to those between whom any degree of consanguinity can be traced, unchastity is the rule with both sexes. Births out of wedlock, however, are considered discreditable, and marriage generally follows on a girl becoming enceinte, in which case there seems no objection on the part of the lover to become the husband.
Once married, conjugal fidelity until death is the rule, and bigamy, polygamy, and divorce are unknown.
Restrictions from various tabooed articles of food, which begin at puberty and often last for years, are brought to a conclusion after a long series of initiatory ceremonies undergone by both sexes.
When a death occurs, the corpse is buried with a method and ceremonies differing somewhat according as to whether it be adult or child;[102] and after some months, during which the encampment in which the death took place is deserted, the body is exhumed, and the bones cleaned and made into souvenirs, which are distributed to relatives and friends.
Numerous superstitions are extant among them, and there is credence in wizardry.