ohAshriical Cornwallis, to the place whereTt.'ishnbw' established. The
tffigihal jq h ^ t’Jofithe, undertaking,;was >to procuretateommddious; harbouT
on the.'eastusi^dsdiitHhbay, to'ireceive and shelter ;his Majesty’s ships- of
waff(during the .continuance-of the north-easOmonsfooB; it was' also used
as ‘arpiace^of reception for convicts,, sentenced for transportation fh ih
Bengal, f-;
,3 No writer of antiquity has transmitted a distinct account. of .the Andamans.;
they, were included'by Ptolemy,' together with the .Nicobars and
lesser islands, in the general appellation of insula bonus fortuna, and supposed;
byrhim to be in h ab it^ by a aracp n f Anthropophagi.* The mild
inoffensive Nieobarians have long since- been.-acquitted of the horrid imputation;
but the different; form, disposition, and habits of the few wretched
savages who wander on the shores of the Andamans, may Have given
ground for a supposition that human flesh has been eaten by th a n ; i f ^
it probably arose more from the impulse of excessive hunger, than from
voluntary choice; a conclusion, that well authenticated instance^* of the
distress they at times endure, appear to authorize.
In the evening we walked round the grounds that had been cleared,
making a circuit of little more than a quarter of' a mile, piutly-along the
beach, and partly by a path leading through heaps of brushwood,, and
the trunks of huge trees that had recently been felled. A small garden,
diligently tilled, produced but a scanty crop' of Indian vegetables. A
* Eusebius Renaudo, in his translation of the account given by two Mahomedan travellers,
■who journeyed eastward, in the ninth century, says,.“ beyond these two islands (probably the
H Nicobars) lies the sea of Andaman. The people on this coast eat human flesh quite raw;
“ their complexion is black, their hair frizzled, their countenance and eyes frightful, their
" feet are very large, almost a cubit, and they go quite naked.”
shailow soil, impregnated; with . brushwood, washed
the painsj kbwemt^iwsiaiclr had .free,®, bestowed, 'seemed i^tb&iapds
totecver.comfi.this discauRtgerngnt. sftu&fegn.) of J^pept on the
side oi a hall, rising abruptly bom jra die ,s6,i,. although jcalfeik-,
foioiijte) 'the unwholesome effects of stagnant waters, was yet
times attended withi great tsfaeqijnp^i^s^, n ^ (the^
Notwithstanding. the colon) laid bton.y-^ubliAlied.-oinjOfs^pCa-jfepj.
little more than sixteen months, the habitations if ^li!b(l.fcpiiiirwH(l£in).Jand
oftrefiy». 3®di tfre.fruts »6 thisarfot1«) cl ijm w w,d y*tifcjnft.l\?cjpiH.
for table. Th e first constructed ofo st<taevran^ p 1lpn]m ^ ^^t^$no|fc,^4ta
and cfoy,. th^fafred wiih leasvesi of the rattan, or covered with boards. The
a;aepatofeidwelling a&sigf&d, him, and there ij|jji#liU\\iscjk,
.cdrrrmodious mess-room. The nunibu ol nibal)ttamvijlpoiri,thtj;<iS^st.ibquW
Joa-mijudina a ( company ol 'sepoys as,. ai guard ovu- thq i'<ori\isty <*uidg.ja
defence to the settlement.
. A situation mewe pjatorfisepaife, .or.a - '»few .mos^rgsH^tig;-; ’tbs®.*
tvhfet Chatham- islmid msd '€fomwaifet fcd|pt*r|wese*it, taci«MA«Mly»he
imagined: land locked oh all sides, liotfrmg is tc>M>t seen bftt*'an cUerA-’
sive\shLt of water. resernblirig a vast fake, i n forspersed
^nd. environed, by, Iqfty mountains clothpd_ with drMLpetoitlfi foij&sts.
Tfre, sethsriyjiaf nature, in ;thi^ seqpestsred. spot, js uncommonly striking
and grand,;; "
AFP that voyagers have refeted of fiMfcivIK/ed' life, seems tw f ilk shew® o f:
theT-frai^^ifrrf of tfte pfe'b’pi'e o f Andaman. ' '’T^Fte ferMcfo^iratfvtes'&f Ffew
Zealand, or the shivering half-animated\^tor^ps o f TerraWel‘P u ^ d , are