"At that island[185] where Captain Weldon was there were two friars, sent thither to convert the Indians. One of them came away with Captain Weldon; the other remained there still. He that came away with Captain Weldon gave a very good character to the inhabitants of that island, viz., that they were very honest, civil, harmless people; that they were not addicted to quarrelling, theft, or murder; that they did marry, or at least live as man and wife, one man with one woman, never changing till death made the separation; that they were punctual and honest in performing their bargains; and that they were inclined to receive the Christian religion. This relation I had afterwards from the mouth of a priest at Tonquin who told me that he received this information by a letter from the friar that Captain Weldon brought away from thence."[186]
But, to proceed:—"The 5th day of May we ran down on the west side of the island Nicobar properly so-called, and anchored at the N.W. end of it, in a small bay, in 8 fathoms water, not half a mile from the shore. The body of this island is in 7° 30' N. lat.[187] It is about 12 leagues long, and 3 or 4 broad. The south end of it is pretty high, with steep cliffs against the sea; the rest of the island is low, flat, and even.[188] The mould of it is black and deep, and it is very well watered with small running streams. It produceth abundance of tall trees, fit for any uses; for the whole bulk of it seems to be but one entire grove. But that which adds most to its beauty off at sea, are the many spots of coconut trees which grow round it in every small bay. The bays are half a mile or a mile long, more or less, and these bays are intercepted or divided from each other with as many little rocky points of woodland.
"As the coconut trees do thus grow in groves, fronting to the sea, in the bays, so there is another sort of fruit-tree in the bays, bordering on the back side of the coco trees, farther from the sea. It is called by the natives a melory tree.[189] This tree is as big as our large apple trees, and as high. It hath a blackish[190] rind and a pretty broad leaf. The fruit is as big as the bread-fruit[191] at Guam, or a large penny loaf. It is shaped like a pear, and hath a pretty tough smooth rind of a light-green colour. The inside of the fruit is in substance much like an apple, but full of small strings as big as brown thread. I did never see of these trees anywhere but here.
"The natives of this island are tall, well-limbed men; pretty long visaged, with black eyes; their noses middle-proportioned, and the whole symmetry of their faces agreeing very well. Their hair is black and lank, and their skins of a dark copper colour. The women have no hair on their eyebrows. I do believe it is plucked up by the roots, for the men had hair growing on their eyebrows as other people.
"The men go all naked; only a long, narrow piece of cloth or sash, which, going round their waists, and thence down between their thighs, is brought up behind and tucked-in at that part which goes about the waist. The women have a kind of a short petticoat, reaching from their waists to their knees.
"Their language was different from any that I ever heard before; yet they had some few Malayan words, and some of them had a word or two of Portuguese, which, probably, they might learn aboard of their ships passing by this place; for when these men see a sail, they do presently go aboard of them in their canoes. I did not perceive any form of religion that they had; they had neither temple or idol, nor any manner of outward veneration to any deity, that I did see.
"They inhabit all round the island by the seaside, in the bays, there being four or five houses, more or less in each bay. Their houses are built on posts, as the Mindanayans. They are small, low, and of a square form. There is but one room in each house, and this room is about 8 feet from the ground; and from thence the roof is raised about 8 feet higher. But instead of a sharp ridge, the top is exceeding neatly arched with small rafters about the bigness of a man's arm, bent round like a half-moon, and very curiously thatched with palmetto leaves.[192]
"They live under no government that I could perceive, for they seem to be equal, without any distinction; every man ruling in his own house. Their plantations are only those coconut trees which grow by the seaside, there being no cleared land farther in on the island; for I observed that when past the fruit-trees, there were no paths to be seen going into the woods. The greatest use which they make of their coco-trees is to draw toddy from them, of which they are very fond.
"The melory trees seem to grow wild. They have great earthen pots to boil the melory fruit in, which will hold 12 or 14 gallons. These pots they fill with the fruit, and, putting in a little water, they cover the mouth of the pot with leaves to keep the steam while it boils. When the fruit is soft, they peel off the rind and the pulp from the strings, with a flat stick made like a knife, and then make it up into great lumps as big as a Holland cheese, and then it will keep six or seven days. It looks yellow, and tastes well, and is their chiefest food; for they have no yams, potatoes, rice nor plantains (except a very few), yet they have a few small hogs, and a very few cocks and hens like ours. The men employ themselves in fishing, but I did not see much fish that they got; every house hath at least two or three canoes belonging to it, which they draw up ashore.
"The canoes that they go fishing in are sharp at both ends, and both the sides and the bottom are very thin and smooth. They are shaped somewhat like the praus at Guam, with one side flattish and the other with a pretty big belly; and they have small slight outlayers[193] on one side. Being thus thin and light, they are better managed with oars than with sails: yet they sail well enough, and are steered with a paddle. There commonly go twenty or thirty men in one of these canoes; and seldom fewer than nine or ten. Their oars are short, and they do not paddle, but row with them as we do.[194] The benches they sit on when they row are made of split bamboos laid across, and so near together that they look like a deck. The bamboos lie movable: so that when any go in to row they take up a bamboo in the place where they would sit, and lay it by to make room for their legs. The canoes of those of the rest of these islands were like those of Nicobar, and probably they were alike in other things; for we saw no difference at all in the natives of them who came hither while we were here.