These Islands Are Likewise Called _Andemaon_ Or Andaman.[154] The Natives Are Savages Who Eat Each Other, And Are Continually Engaged In War, Which They Carry On In Small Boats, Chiefly To Make Prisoners For Their Cannibal Feasts.

When by any chance a ship happens to be cast away on those islands, as many have been, the men are sure to be slain and devoured.

These savages have no trade or intercourse with any other people, but live entirely on the productions of their own islands. In my voyage from Malacca through the channel of Sombrero, two boats came off from these islands to our ship laden with fruit, such as _Mouces_ which we call Adams apples, with fresh cocoa nuts, and another fruit named _Inani_, much like our turnips, but very sweet and good to eat. These people could not be prevailed on to come on board our ship, neither would they accept payment for their fruit in money, but bartered them for old shirts or old trowsers. These rags were let down from the ship into their boats by a rope, and when they had considered what they were worth in their estimation, they tied as much fruit as they thought proper to give in exchange to the rope, which they allowed us to hale up. I was told that sometimes a man may get a valuable piece of amber for an old shirt.

[Footnote 153: The Taprobana or Sielendive of the ancients certainly was Ceylon, not Sumatra.

Enter page number Go  Previous Next
Page 283 of 842
Words from 76709 to 76958 of 230997