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.