The first recorded murder of a European by the natives seems to be that of Captain Owen, who was wrecked on Tilanchong, and from thence taken to Nankauri, where he was put to death on account of his ill-judged behaviour towards the inhabitants. This incident is related by Hamilton in his account of his own experiences in the East Indies from 1688 to 1723,[122] where he gives a little information about the Nicobars.
The first attempt at a settlement on the islands was made by Jesuits on Kar Nicobar in 1711, but they succumbed to the climate, and the effects of such results as they had attained to soon disappeared. Hitherto no efforts had been made to convert the natives, although missionaries of the same denomination were well acquainted with the group.
In 1756 Tanck took possession of the Archipelago in the name of Denmark, and under the designation of "Frederiks Oerne," and founded a colony on the north coast of Great Nicobar, which in 1760 was transferred to Kamorta, and there came to an end owing to the unhealthy climate.
In 1766 fourteen Moravians were installed on Nankauri, with a view to extending the influence of the Danish East India Company, but in a dozen years nearly every member of the settlement was dead. They are said to have made no conversions.
A Dane, named Koenig, who was a doctor of the same religious body, voyaging from India to Siam in 1778, spent several hours on Kar Nicobar, and in his diary left some account of his visit; and almost contemporaneously a vessel under the Austrian flag, the Joseph and Theresa, Captain Bennet, anchored off the northern island: her voyage was made to obtain plantations and trading stations in the East for the Austrian Empire. This was the scheme of a Dutchman, named Bolts, who entered the Austrian service in 1775, and who accompanied the ship, a chartered English vessel with an English crew. The expedition spent five months in the group: a fort was erected on the island, and ships purchased to trade between Madras, Pegu, and the Nicobars. War in Europe ruined the company, and it was suspended after an existence of seven years.
In 1779 two more Moravians settled on Nankauri, in an attempt to found a fresh Danish Mission, but eight years later this was abandoned, and the survivor returned to Europe.
With the commencement of the nineteenth century, English traders from India began to visit the islands for coconuts, and, through contact with their crews, the custom and life of the natives seems to have undergone much growth and alteration.
In 1831 Denmark made a last attempt to colonise the group by missionary enterprise, and Pastor Rosen was sent out. He dwelt on Nankauri, in the middle of the north side of the harbour, and for a time also lived on Trinkat; but after three years he returned to Europe, and some time later published his experiences.
The year Rosen left, two Catholic missionaries arrived at Kar Nicobar from Malacca, and lived on Teressa and Kamorta, but after a time one of them, Borie, died of fever, and the survivor left. This was the last of the series of missionary endeavours to found a settlement and convert the inhabitants.
In 1845, Mr Mackay, Danish Consul at Calcutta, chartered a schooner and made a voyage to the group in search of coal, which was prospected for without success.[123]