To account for this latter difference, and for the dull brown colour of the skin—far darker than is usual amongst Malays—one may of course suggest remote Negrito admixture. Possibly the Andamanese, on one of the predatory voyages which it seems they were not unaccustomed to make in this direction,[126] may have reached the island, and for some reason unable to return, have intermixed with the inhabitants.
But I think it more probable that these peculiarities are due to a Dravidian strain, and that some mariners of this race, who, from before the time of Solomon, were accustomed to make trading voyages to the Eastern Archipelago,[127] became stranded on these islands, and incorporated themselves with the people they found there.
In this way, not only would the nature of the hair, colour of the skin, and occasional definiteness of feature, be accounted for, but the aborigines would be left as we now find them, unreduced in height, while mixture with the Andamanese would probably have the effect of lessening their stature.
Furthermore, I have, since my acquaintance with these people, occasionally met Tamils, whom, if I had seen similarly garbed in the forests of Great Nicobar, I believe I should have been unable to distinguish from Shom Peṅ.[128]
WOMEN OF THE SHOM PEṄ;
WOMEN OF THE SHOM PEṄ (in profile).
On the other hand, they much resemble, in appearance and mode of life, descriptions of many of the primitive Malayans who have intermixed with Negritoes. Of these the Kubus of Sumatra are an instance,[129] and of the Jakuns of Johore, who are believed to be of Negrito origin, but much interbred with Malays. Mr H. Lake[130] writes: "The true Jakun is of short stature, 5 feet 2 inches is a fair average height. They are much darker in colour than the Malay, and, as a rule, not so well set up. The hair, which in the pure Negrito curls closely, is here in most cases simply wavy, or even straight. They live in small communities, and subsist miserably on fruits, roots, etc. They seldom remain many weeks in the same spot, but wander from place to place, living under scanty shelters built on rickety poles at a considerable height from the ground. It is not uncommon to find a dozen in company, with a tame monkey or two, cats and dogs, living in perfect harmony under the same roof."
We may therefore consider the Shom Peṅ to be the aborigines of the group, who, although everywhere else either exterminated or absorbed by settlers from outside, have in Great Nicobar found a refuge in the forest depths, and by long-standing hostility to the intruders, arising from some unknown cause, have preserved to a great extent their natural traits and existence, although somewhat degenerated, both on account of the less favourable circumstances in which they live and of the interbreeding that the smallness of their numbers compels.
Although the Shom Peṅ are by measurement as tall in the average as the coast people, to the eye they appear smaller, and they are less robust, with lean though bony figures (average chest measurements, 35.2 inches), sinewy rather than muscular.
Fourteen measurements of adult males gave a maximum height of 67¾ inches, a minimum of 62⅛ inches, and an average height of 64 inches. Of eight women measured, the tallest was 65¼ inches in height, and the smallest 57⅜ inches, while the average stature of that number was found to be 60.8 inches.