an ant. He took care of them until they attained the common size of men and this was the origin of the natives.*

To account for the coconut trees that grow in such abundance on the island, the Kar Nicobarese version runs thus:

Once upon a time there was a scarcity of water, and a certain man then produced it from his elbow by means of magic arts. The people therefore considered him to be a devil-man-wizardand beheaded him. On the spot where the head fell there sprang up a tree, and after a time it became very big, and began to bear fruit, and the fruit resembled the head of the slain man.

For a long time the people were afraid to approach the tree or to taste the nuts, because they had grown out of a human head, and so, by the falling of the ripe fruit, there grew up a dense grove of coconut palms.

At last some wise men brought to the trees an old man who was dying, and made him taste of the nuts, to find out their qualities! The old man accordingly ate one, and found it to be very delicious, and from continually eating nuts he became very strong, and grew to look like a young man.

Thenceforth the people began to make use of the coconut!

In the old days it was the custom to kill men for any offence, grave or simple. But at length the elders, finding that the population had greatly diminished thereby, held a council, and introduced the system of killing pigs, burning houses, felling trees, breaking canoes, and destroying clothes, etc., and this method is continued at the present day side by side with the former.

The people seldom have open fighting among themselves, neither do they use their fists, or flog. In extreme cases only (witchcraft) do they commit murder.

The Nicobarese have no conception of a Supreme Being, or a future state, but there is a universal belief in evil spirits, who are in part ghosts of the wicked, and who can be propitiated by offerings and kept away by exorcisms.

* Père Barbe, Jour. Asiatic Soc., Bengal., vol. xv.

SUPERSTITIOUS BELIEFS

231

These creations of the imagination, who in the northern island are called Siyas, seem much akin to the Náts of IndoChina, but are far less localised, and, as a rule, have no particular tree, rock, or stream for their abode. They are the cause of every misfortune and disease that occurs to man, but death in the ordinary course of things is considered to be a natural event.

It would appear that in Kar Nicobar, Teressa, and Chaura, where the superstitious practices are nearly alike, some idea

"Scare-devil," or device for exorcising evil spirits (Kachal).

is entertained of spirits not altogether inimical to mankind; but in the other islands, whose beliefs are all homogenous, the Iwis are all harmful to human beings, and are kept at a distance by a redundancy of charms and talismans that does not occur in the north.*

The latter, which include various objects, such as figures of men, women, animals, etc., pictures, banners, and so on, are none of them regarded as idols or worshipped, neither are they fetishes the instruments of spirits, or themselves endowed with

Tanamara, headman of Malacca, Nankauri, when questioned on this point, stated that the spirits were all evil :-"What, no got good devil-hantu baik? No, all bad; plenty fever-devil, plen-ty devil eat man." But, with reference to this assertion, Mr Man writes:-"The names of certain good spirits have often been given to me at Nankauri, and by Tanamara himself." One inference is, that the latter purposely denied their existence in order to be spared the trouble of answering further questions on the subject.

life-although those of them representative of living objects are from time to time given such food as pork or coconuts. They merely act as "scare-devils," putting to flight the demons

Nicobarese Talisman.

of sickness and guarding their constructors from any misfortune. They are effective only on behalf of those who make them, and at such person's death it is the custom to destroy or discard the talismans.

"Scare-devil," or device for exorcising evil spirits (Kachal).

The natives have no temples or any form of worship, but there have come into being shamans or priest-doctors, known as tamiluanas and menluanas, who have the power of cóm