"The intelligence of the women is good, though not as a rule equal to that
of the men. In old age, however, they frequently exhibit a considerable
mental capacity which is respected. Several women trained in a former
local Mission Orphanage from early childhood have shown much mental
aptitude and capacity, the 'savagery' in them, however, only dying down as
they grew older. They can read and write well, understand and speak
English correctly, have acquired European habits completely, and possess
much shrewdness and common sense: one has herself taught her Andamanese
husband, the dynamo-man above mentioned, to read and write English and
induced him to join the Government House Press as a compositor. She writes
a well-expressed and correctly-spelt letter in English, and has a shrewd
notion of the value of money. Such women, when the instability of youth is
past, make good 'ayas,' as their menkind make good waiters at table.
"The highest general type of intelligence yet noticed is in the Jarawa
tribe."
P. 310. The name Andaman. - To my mind the modern Andaman is the Malay
Handuman = Hanuman, representing "monkey" or savage aboriginal antagonist
of the Aryans = also the Rakshasa. Individuals of the race, when seen in
the streets of Calcutta in 1883, were at once recognised as Rakshasas. It
may amuse you to know that the Andamanese returned the compliment, and to
them all Orientals are Chauga or Ancestral Ghosts, i.e., demons (see
Census Report, pp. 44-45 for reasons). I agree with you that Angamanain
is an Arabic dual, the Great and the Little Andaman. To a voyager who did
not land, the North, Middle, and South Andaman would appear as one great
island, whereas the strait separating these three islands from the Little
Andaman would be quite distinctly seen.
P. 311. Cannibalism. - The charge of cannibalism is entirely untrue. I
quote here my paragraph as to how it arose (Census Report, p. 48).
"The charge of cannibalism seems to have arisen from three observations of
the old mariners. The Andamanese attacked and murdered without provocation
every stranger they could on his landing; they burnt his body (as they did
in fact that of every enemy); and they had weird all-night dances round
fires. Combine these three observations with the unprovoked murder of one
of themselves, and the fear aroused by such occurrences in a far land in
ignorant mariners' minds, century after century, and a persistent charge
of cannibalism is almost certain to be the result."
The real reason for the Andamanese taking and killing every stranger that
they could was that for centuries the Malays had used the islands as one
of their pirate bases, and had made a practice of capturing the
inhabitants to sell as slaves in the Peninsula and Siam.
