Chapter II: Ceremonial Customs (1)

In such a society as that of the Andaman Islanders it is possible to distinguish three different ways in which the actions of individuals are regulated or determined by the society. There are, first of all, what we may distinguish as “moral customs,” whereby the actions of individuals in relation to one another are regulated on principles of right and wrong conduct. It was with customs of this kind that we were concerned in the last chapter. Secondly, the activities by which the natives obtain their food and make the various objects of which they have need are determined by tradition. Such activities are purely utilitarian and they are regulated, not by commandments similar to those of the moral law, but by accumulated technical knowledge as to the means by which a particular object may be attained. These we may speak of as the “technical customs” of the society.

There are customs of a third kind which are distinguishable both from moral customs and from technical customs. For example, when a man dies, his near relatives observe certain mourning customs, such as covering their bodies with clay. Such customs are distinguished from technical customs by having no utilitarian purpose. They are distinguished from moral customs by this, that they are not immediately concerned with the effects of the action of one person upon another.

It is difficult to find a satisfactory name for all the customs of this kind. A large number of them may be spoken of as “ceremonial customs,” and it is this that explains the title of the present chapter.

It is not pretended that this division of social customs into three different kinds is of any great or permanent value, and it is only introduced as an aid to the exposition of the customs of the Andamanese. It will be argued in a later chapter that many of the customs described in the present chapter have a common psychological basis.

Of any customs in connection with the birth of children I was able to learn very little, as no births at which I could be present occurred during my stay at the islands. Earlier writers have given very little information on this subject.

During the latter part of the period of pregnancy, and for about a month after the birth of the child, the mother and father must observe certain restrictions. In particular there are certain foods that they may not eat. The statements of different informants on this matter did not quite agree with each other, and it seems that there were slightly different rules in different tribes. According to an Akar-Bale informant the man and woman may not eat dugong, honey and yams; they may eat the flesh of small but not of full-grown pigs and turtle. An informant of one of the Northern tribes said that the woman may not eat full-grown pig, Paradoxurus, turtle, dugong, the fish komar, monitor lizard, honey and yams; her husband may eat these things but must carefully avoid eating certain fishes.

The natives give two different reasons for these rules. One is that if these foods be eaten by the parents the child will be ill. The other is that the parents themselves will be ill. The latter is the explanation most commonly offered.

The baby is named some time before it is born, and from that time the parents are not addressed or spoken of by name. For example, if the name chosen be Rea, the father will be spoken of as Rea aka-mai (Rea’s father) instead of by his own name. The mother may be referred to as Rea it-pet, from the word it-pet meaning “belly.” This practice is continued till some weeks after the birth, when the use of the names of the parents is once more resumed.

In child-birth the woman is assisted by the matrons of the camp. She is seated in her hut in the village on fresh leaves, and a piece of wood is placed at her back for her to lean against. Her legs are flexed so that her knees may be clasped by her arms. The only manipulation is pressure exerted on the upper part of the abdomen by one of the attendant women. The umbilical cord is severed with a knife, formerly of cane or bamboo, but in these days of iron. The after-birth is buried in the jungle. The infant is washed and then scraped with a Cyrena shell. After a few days he (or she) is given a coating of clay (odu).

If a baby dies and within a year or two the mother again becomes pregnant, it is said that it is the same baby born again, and the name of the deceased child is given to it. Thus one woman had three children of the same name, the first two having died soon after birth. According to the native ideas this was really the same child born three times. It is only those who die in infancy that are thus reincarnated.

In the Northern tribes it is believed that a woman can tell the sex of her unborn child. If she feels it on the left side it is a male, because men hold the bow (the typical masculine implement) in the left hand. If she feels it on the right side it is a female, because it is in her right hand that a woman holds her fishing net.

A married man who is childless and desires a child will wear a čiba (sling of bark used for carrying children) round his shoulders when he is sitting in camp. The čiba and the way it is used for carrying children may be seen in the photograph in Plate XIV. If a childless woman wishes to have a child she may catch, cook and eat a certain species of small frog.

At a place called Tonmuket in the North Andaman there is a spot to which it is said that women may resort if they wish to become pregnant. On the reef at this spot there are a large number of stones which, according to the legend, were once little children. The woman who desires a child walks out on to the reef when the tide is low and stands upon these stones. It is believed that one of the baby souls will enter her body and become incarnate [53].

In the North Andaman there is some sort of association between the unborn souls of babies, the green pigeon and the Ficus laccifera tree. The same name, Reŋko, is used to denote both the green pigeon and also the Ficus laccifera, of the fruit of which the pigeon is very fond. The belief of the natives is sometimes stated by saying that the souls of unborn children live in the Ficus trees, and that if a baby dies before it has been weaned its soul goes back to the tree. Another statement of the natives is that it is when the green pigeon is calling that the soul of a baby goes into its mother. The Ficus is to a certain extent tabu. I was told that the tree must not be cut or damaged. Nevertheless the natives do cut the tree in order to obtain the bark of the aerial roots from which they prepare a fibre that they use for making personal ornaments. There is no tabu in connection with the green pigeon, which may be killed and eaten.

In most primitive societies, if not in all, there are ritual or ceremonial observances in connection with the change by which a boy or girl becomes a man or woman. The ceremonies that are performed to mark this change are commonly spoken of in ethnological literature as “initiation ceremonies.” The term is not perhaps the best that could be chosen, but usage has rendered it familiar.

The life of an Andaman Islander is divided into three well-marked periods, corresponding roughly with the physiological periods of childhood, adolescence, and maturity. The first period lasts from birth till about the advent of puberty; the second lasts from puberty till after marriage; the third extends from marriage to death.

During the period of childhood the boy or girl lives with his or her parents, or, in the later years of the period, with adopted parents, having a place in the family hut and a share in the family meal. A girl continues to live with her parents or with her adopted parents until she marries. When boys have finished growing, and have reached the condition of young men, they cease to live with their parents or adopted parents and, until they are married, they occupy a bachelors’ hut of their own, and have their own meal.

Every boy and girl has to undergo the operation of scarification. This is begun when the child is quite young, and a small portion of the body is operated on. The operation is repeated at intervals during childhood, until the whole body has been scarified. A small flake of quartz or glass is used, and a series of fine incisions are made in the skin. The usual method is to cover a small portion of the skin with a number of parallel rows of short cuts. The choice of the design (if it can be called such) rests entirely with the person who performs the operation, who is in all cases a woman. The incisions leave scars that can usually only be seen when close to the person. In the photograph of Plate XV a pattern of scars may be seen. In this case the incisions became infected and raised scars were produced, and it is for this reason that they are visible in the photograph. In ordinary cases raised scars are not produced and the scarification is hardly visible in a photograph.

The only reason that the natives give for this custom is either that it improves the personal appearance, or else that it helps to make the child grow strong.

In the case of a girl the period of childhood is brought to a close by a ceremony that takes place on the occasion of her first menstrual discharge. The ceremony I describe is that in use in the Northern tribes, but I believe that the ceremony of the Southern tribes is very similar. On the occurrence of the first menstrual discharge the girl tells her parents, who weep over her. She must then go and bathe in the sea for an hour or two by herself. After that she goes back to her parents’ hut or to a special shelter that is put up for the occasion. She is not required to go away from the camp. All ornaments are removed from her, only a single belt of Pandanus leaf being left, with an apron of čainyo leaves. Strips of Pandanus leaf are attached round her arms near the shoulders and round her wrists, and others are placed as bands crossing her chest from the shoulder to the waist on the opposite side, and crossing her abdomen from the iliac crest on the one side to the trochanter on the other. These are so attached that the long loose ends hang down at the girl’s side. Bunches of leaves, either čelmo (Tetranthera lancæfolia) or, if these be not obtainable, poramo (Myristica longifolia) are fastened beneath her belt before and behind. Other leaves of the same kind are placed for her to sit upon. The strips of Pandanus leaf and the bundle of leaves are visible in the photograph reproduced in Plate XVI.

Thus covered with leaves the girl must sit in the hut allotted to her, with her legs doubled up beneath her and her arms folded. A piece of wood or bamboo is placed at her back for her to lean against, as she may not lie down. If she is cramped she may stretch one of her legs or one of her arms, but not both arms or both legs at the same time. To feed herself she may release one of her hands, but she must not take up the food with her fingers; a skewer of čainyo wood [54] is given her with which to feed herself. She may not speak nor sleep for 24 hours. Her wants are attended to by her parents and their friends, who sit near her to keep her from falling asleep.

The girl sits thus for three days. Early every morning she leaves the hut to bathe for an hour in the sea. At the end of the three days she resumes her life in the village. For a month following she must bathe in the sea every morning at dawn.

During the ceremony and for a short time afterwards the girl is not addressed or spoken of by name, but is referred to as Alebe or Toto. The meaning of the first word is not known. Toto is the name of the species of Pandanus from which women’s belts are made and the leaves of which are used in the ceremony. On the occasion of this ceremony the girl is given a new name, her “flower-name,” and from this time till after the birth of her first child she is never addressed or spoken of by the name which she had as a child, but only by the name given to her at this ceremony. The name given is that of a plant or tree which is in flower at the time. If the ceremony takes place when the ǰili is in flower she is called J̌ili; if when the ǰeru is in flower she is named J̌eru, and so on. These names will be mentioned again later in the present chapter.

After this ceremony the girl is said to be aka-ndu-kolo̱t. For some time afterwards she must not have her head shaved, and she must not use red paint or white clay.

I was not able to learn much about the native ideas in connection with the menstrual function. According to the account given me by one informant I gathered that the girl’s first menstrual discharge is supposed to be due to sexual intercourse. The man’s breath goes into her nose and this produces the discharge. It is believed that if a man were to touch a girl during this period, either during the ceremony or for some time after it, his arm would swell up.

At every recurrence of the menstrual period a woman is required to abstain from eating certain foods. According to an Akar-Bale informant these are, in that tribe, pork, turtle, Paradoxurus, honey and yams. An Aka-Čari informant added to the above list dugong, monitor lizard, and the fish komar. If she ate any of these things at such a time she would be ill. This continues throughout her life till the climacteric. A menstruating woman is not required to leave the camp, as she is in many savage communities.

From the moment of the ceremony just described the girl enters a new condition which is denoted in the Aka-J̌eru language by the word aka-op (aka-yaba in Aka-Bea). This word means that the person to whom it is applied is under certain ritual restrictions, chiefly concerned with foods that may not be eaten.

In the case of a boy there is no physiological event so clearly marked as there is in that of a girl. It rests with the relatives and friends to decide when the boy is to become aka-op. It would seem that in the Southern tribes there is no ceremony on this occasion. Among the Northern tribes the boy is made aka-op by means of a ceremony that consists of making the scars on his back that are customary in these tribes [55].

When the friends and relatives of a boy decide that he is old enough to have the incisions made in his back a dance is held in the evening, and the boy is required to dance through the whole night till he is tired. As soon as morning breaks he is made to bathe in the sea for two hours or so. He is then seated in some convenient place, not in a hut. The boy kneels down and bends forward till his elbows rest on the ground in front. One of the older men takes a pig-arrow and with the sharpened blade makes a series of cuts on the boy’s back. Each cut is horizontal, and they are arranged in three vertical rows, each row consisting of from 20 to 30 cuts. When the cutting is finished the boy sits up, with a fire at his back, until the bleeding stops. During the operation and for a few hours following it the boy must remain silent. There is no treatment of the wounds to produce raised scars. The scars are much more noticeable on some men than on others.

The boy does not receive a new name on this occasion, but for a few weeks his own name is dropped and he is addressed and spoken of as Eǰido. From this time the boy is described as being oko-taliŋ-kolo̱t, this being the masculine term corresponding to aka-ndu-kolo̱t for girls. From the time the cuts are made on his back the boy becomes aka-op and is under certain restrictions as to what foods he may eat.

When the wounds on his back are thoroughly healed similar cuts are made on his chest. I found a certain number of men who had no visible scars on their chests, but in the North Andaman every man has the three rows of scars on his back. Some of the women of the North Andaman have similar scars on their chests and a very few have them also on the back. These scars on women are not regularly made as part of the initiation ceremonies, and may be made after the woman has been married for some years.

During the period that a boy or girl is aka-op he or she is required by the customs of the tribe to abstain from eating certain foods. The exact rules in this matter differ from tribe to tribe. More particularly there are important differences between the coast-dwellers on the one hand and the jungle-dwellers on the other. The general principle, however, is in all cases the same. The boy (or girl) must abstain from all the chief foods of the people, and since he could not abstain from them all at one time without starving, he takes them in turn. It is in the order in which the different foods are forbidden that the chief differences occur.

In the Aka-Čari tribe of the North Andaman, where all are coast-dwellers, the boy or girl, during the first part of the aka-op period must not eat turtle, dugong, porpoise, komar (a fish), hawksbill turtle, the two kinds of edible grubs (pata and čokele), the monitor lizard, the flying fox (Pteropus), certain birds (perhaps all birds), certain shell-fish, the four varieties of mangrove seed (kao, čimi, kabal and kaplo), three edible roots (mino, labo and mikulu), and a large number of other vegetable foods, including lo̱itok, poroto (if cooked, but it may be eaten raw), biǰo, čoroŋo, celet, buroŋ, bui, bakle, čo, čatali, and kata. A certain number of fishes must be added to this list. This period is brought to a end by the turtle-eating ceremony which will be presently described. After this ceremony, turtle, which is one of the chief foods of the Aka-Čari, may be eaten, although certain parts of the turtle (such as the intestinal fat) are still forbidden, and the youth is also allowed to eat many of the other foods previously forbidden. On the other hand he is now required not to eat pork and a number of other foods both animal and vegetable. During this second period certain minor ceremonies take place, as for instance on the first occasion on which turtle’s eggs are eaten. This period is brought to an end by the pig-eating ceremony. After that the youth is again free to eat pork. As turtle and pork are the two most important foods the ceremonies and observances in connection with these occupy a position of greater importance. After the pig-eating ceremony the youth is made free of one food after another, until some time after he is married he becomes free to partake of any of the foods available. In the case of some of the more important foods, such as honey, dugong, porpoise, the fish komar, etc., there is a sort of minor ceremony. The only ceremonies of any great importance in this tribe are the turtle-eating and the pig-eating ceremonies.

In the forest-dwelling communities of the North Andaman things are necessarily different. These people only eat such foods as turtle, dugong, etc. when they are visiting their friends on the coast. The three most important ceremonies amongst these people are the ńyuri-eating, the pig-eating and the honey-eating ceremonies. (The ńyuri is a fish that is found in the creeks.) According to my informants of the Aka-Bo tribe the foods that must be avoided during the first part of the abstention period are all species of fish found in inland creeks (ńyuri, burto, bari, bol, kuato), the monitor lizard, sucking-pig, two species of snake (or-čubi and uluku-čubi), a number of vegetable foods and also honey. After the ńyuri-eating ceremony the different kinds of fish mentioned may be eaten, but the youth or girl must then abstain from pork.

These examples, without entering into further details, will suffice to show what is the nature of the aka-op period. During that period the youth must abstain for a certain length of time from each one of the more important foods of his community. After a certain period of abstention he is permitted to eat the particular food. On each occasion of thus eating a food for the first time after the abstention, there are certain ritual customs that must be observed, and these customs are more important in some cases (such as pig, turtle and honey) than in others. In the case of some of the foods the only ritual observed is that the food must be given by an older man, who is himself free to eat it, that it must be eaten in silence, and that the man must be painted afterwards with clay (odu). In the case of pork and turtle, however, there are fairly elaborate ceremonies. The ceremonies are very similar in different parts of the islands. The description given below applies to the coast-dwellers of the North Andaman. In these communities the period of abstention from turtle and other foods begins in the case of a girl at the first menstruation, and in the case of a boy when his back is cut. It may last only one year or several years, according to circumstances, and is brought to a close by the turtle-eating ceremony. The details of this are exactly the same in the case of a girl and a boy.

When the older men decide that it is time for a boy who has been abstaining from turtle to be released from the restriction, a turtle-hunting expedition is arranged, and this is continued until a fair number of good turtle are captured. The best of these is selected, killed, and cooked. The youth is seated in a hut, either that of his parents, or one placed at his disposal by a friend or one specially built [56]. All his ornaments are removed. (In the case of a girl one belt of Pandanus leaf is retained.) He is seated on leaves of the Hibiscus tiliaceus, or if these be not obtainable, on those of the Myristica longifolia, and a bundle of the same leaves is placed under his folded arms so as to cover his belly, while another bundle is placed at his back where there is some sort of rest provided for him to lean against. He must sit still with folded arms and with legs stretched out in front, the two big toes clasping each other. He sits facing towards the open sea, and a fire is placed near him, generally just beyond his feet.

Some man is chosen to take charge of the ceremony. This may be one of the older men of the community to which the youth belongs or a distinguished visitor, if there be any such present in the camp at the time. This man selects some of the meat and fat of the cooked turtle, placing them in a wooden dish. He comes to where the youth is seated, while the friends and relatives gather round. Taking some of the fat he rubs it first over the lips and then over the whole body of the youth, while the female relatives of the latter sit near and weep loudly. When the youth’s body is thoroughly covered with fat the man who is performing the ceremony takes some burnt oxide of iron, such as is used for making red paint, and rubs it over the youth’s whole body, except the hair of his head. He then takes a piece of turtle fat and places it in the youth’s mouth, feeding him thus with a few mouthfuls which the youth eats in silence. At this point the weeping of the relatives is taken up again with renewed vigour and then gradually comes to an end. Having fed the youth the man then proceeds to massage him. He first stands behind him and placing his hands on his shoulders presses down on them with all his weight. Then he seizes a roll of flesh on each side of the youth’s belly and shakes it up and down as though to shake down what has been eaten. The arms are next massaged and the wrists and knuckles are forcibly flexed so as to make the joints “crack.” The legs are similarly massaged, either with the hands or with the feet, the performer (in the latter case) standing on the outstretched legs of the youth and rolling the muscles beneath his feet [57]. The joints of the toes are forcibly bent with the hand to make them “crack” if possible. A mixture of clay (odu) and water has been prepared in a wooden dish. The performer dips his hands into this and spatters it over the youth’s body from head to foot, either by holding his hands near the youth and clapping them together, or by jerking the clay off his fingers with a flicking motion. During the whole of these proceedings the youth sits passive and silent.

The first part of the ceremony is now over. The food tray containing turtle meat and fat, cut into small pieces, is placed beside the youth and he is provided with a skewer of the wood of the Hibiscus tiliaceus, as he may not touch the meat with his fingers. He must sit in the same position with legs outstretched and arms folded and surrounded with Hibiscus leaves. To feed himself he may unloose one arm, and when his legs are cramped he may double them up beneath him. He may not lie down nor speak nor sleep for 48 hours. During this period he may eat nothing but turtle and drink nothing but water [58]. The man in charge of the ceremony sits behind him and gives him instructions as to what foods he may and what he may not eat after the ceremony. Some of the men and women take it in turn to sit beside the youth, attending to his wants and talking or singing to keep him awake.

On the morning of the third day a belt and necklace are made of pieces of the creeper called terkobito-balo, i.e. “centipede creeper” (Pothos scandens), and these are placed round the youth’s waist and neck. On this day he is permitted to sleep. Either on the same day, or early the next morning, he has a bath in the sea, to remove some of the red paint and clay, and he is then decorated with red paint made of red ochre and turtle fat, and with white clay (to̱l-odu). The red paint is put on in stripes over his body, and his ears are daubed with it. The white clay is put on in a zig-zag pattern to be described later, the lines of white clay alternating with those of red paint. This decoration is done by female relatives.

Early on the morning of the fourth day, soon after daybreak, the whole village is astir. One of the older men takes his stand by the sounding-board used for marking time at dances, and the women sit down near him. The youth comes out from his hut and stands in the middle of the dancing ground, and five or six men stand round him in a circle, each of them facing towards the youth. Each of the men, including the youth, holds in each hand a bundle of twigs of the Hibiscus tiliaceus or, if such be not obtainable, of the Myristica longifolia. The man at the sounding-board sings a song, beating time with his foot, in the usual way, on the sounding-board, and at the chorus the women join in and mark the time by clapping their hands on their thighs. The song may be on any subject and is selected by the singer from his own repertory. A song referring to turtle-hunting is preferred. During the first song the dancers stand at their positions on the dancing ground, lifting up their leaf bundles at short intervals and bringing them down against their knees. The singer then commences a new song or repeats the former one, and when the song comes to an end the youth and those with him begin their dance. Each dancer flexes his hips so that his back is nearly horizontal. He raises his hands to the back of his neck so that the two bundles of leaves in his hands rest on his back. With knees flexed he leaps from the ground with both feet, keeping time to the beating of the sounding-board, which is about 144 beats to the minute. At the end of every eight jumps or so, the dancer brings his hands forwards, downwards and backwards, giving a vigorous sweep with the bundles of leaves, which scrape the ground at each side of his feet, and then brings back the bundles to their former position. They dance thus for 15 or 30 seconds and then pause to rest. The dance is repeated several times, until the youth is tired out. As the dance is extremely fatiguing this does not take long [59].

The youth then returns to his hut and resumes his former position. He may now, if he wishes, talk to his friends and he may sleep. He must retain the bundles of Hibiscus leaves and the necklace and belt of Pothos leaves. The dance is sometimes repeated in the afternoon. It is in any case repeated on each of the two days following, and after that the youth resumes his ordinary life. For a week or two he may not touch a bow and arrow. The Pothos leaves are worn till they are faded and are then discarded. The paint on the body wears off and is not renewed, but his ears are kept painted with red paint. For some weeks the youth is supposed to be in an abnormal condition and is carefully watched by his friends.

At the turtle-eating ceremony a new name is given to the youth. This name, however, never seems to be used afterwards either in speaking of or to the person to whom it belongs. A youth of the Aka-J̌eru tribe whose birth name was Čop (from a species of tree) and whose nick-name or second name was Komar (from a species of fish) had two new names given to him on the occasion of the turtle-eating ceremony, Čokbi-čiro (meaning turtle-liver) and Pilečar (high-tide). Neither of these names was ever used in addressing him.

The turtle-eating ceremony is called in the Northern tribes either Čokbi-ǰo, Čokbi-kimil, or Kimil-ǰo. The word čokbi means “turtle,” and ǰo means “eating.” The word kimil is more difficult to translate. With the prefix ot- or er- it means “hot” as in T’ ot-kimil-bom, “I am hot.” From the time of the commencement of the ceremony the youth or girl is said to be in a condition denoted by the word aka-kimil. During this time, i.e. during the ceremony and for some months afterwards, he or she is not addressed or spoken of by name but is referred to as “Kimil,” the word being thus used as a term of address or a substitute for the personal name. A person who is in this condition is described as aka-kimil-kolo̱t. (Before the ceremony the youth is oko-taliŋ-kolo̱t and the girl is aka-ndu-kolo̱t.) In the Aka-Bea tribe the turtle-eating ceremony is called Yadi-gumul or Gumul-leke, yadi being the word for “turtle” in that language, and leke being the equivalent of the ǰo of Aka-J̌eru, that is “eating.” A youth or girl who is passing or has recently passed through the ceremony is said to be aka-gumul, and is addressed and spoken of, not by name, but by the term Guma [60].

In the coast-dwelling communities of the Northern tribes, the youth or girl who has passed through the turtle-eating ceremony is thereafter free to eat turtle flesh (though not the liver nor the intestinal fat of the turtle) and a certain number of the other foods that were previously forbidden. On the other hand, he or she is now forbidden to eat pork and a number of other foods which previously were permitted. The period during which these new prohibitions are in force may last for a few months or for a year or even longer. It is, however, generally shorter than the first period of abstention from turtle. It is brought to an end by a pig-eating ceremony which is similar in many ways to the turtle-eating ceremony already described. A boar must be killed if the initiate be a youth, or a sow if it be a girl who is to go through the ceremony. The youth is seated in a hut on leaves of the čelmo (Tetranthera) and the carcase of the boar is brought and pressed upon the youth’s shoulders and back by one of the men. The girl is not treated in this way. The pork is then cooked and the youth is first anointed and then fed with some of the fat. He is then rubbed with red ochre, massaged and splashed with clay, just as in the turtle-eating ceremony. He must sit silent with arms crossed, and covered with Tetranthera leaves for a day and a night. During this time he may only eat pork, and must not touch his food with his hands but must use a skewer of Tetranthera wood. On the following day he is decorated with white clay (to̱l-odu) and with red paint, and takes part in a dance. The dance is almost exactly the same as the dance on the occasion of the turtle-eating ceremony, the only differences being that instead of Hibiscus leaves those of the Tetranthera are used, and that the dancer does not leap with both feet from the ground, but raises one foot and stamps with it.

In the Northern tribes these are the two most important ceremonies. After the pig-eating ceremony the youth is free to eat pork and a certain number of previously forbidden foods. There remain a considerable number of foods, however, which he is still forbidden. In connection with each of these there is some sort of minor ceremony. The older men, when occasion arises, offer the youth or girl some of the forbidden food, first rubbing it over his or her mouth. The food is then eaten in silence. I only saw one such ceremony, when a man ate for the first time after his abstention the intestinal fat of the turtle. The man was about 24 years of age and had long since been through the chief ceremonies, and was married. The ceremony is perhaps more elaborate in the case of the similar first eating of honey, dugong and a few other foods. One after another of the food prohibitions is removed until the man or woman is free to eat anything. There is no regular order in which this takes place, as in each case it is determined by chance circumstances. The only order that is rigorously observed is that of the two chief ceremonies connected with pork and turtle. These two are the principal meat foods of the coast-dwellers.

The above description applies strictly only to the coast-dwellers of the North Andaman (Aka-Čari, Aka-J̌eru and Aka-Ko̱ra). I was not able to see any ceremonies performed by the jungle-dwellers. The old men of the Aka-Bo tribe told me that the period of abstention begins when a boy or girl is forbidden to eat the fish ńyuri (Plotosus sp., probably P. arab), and a certain number of other foods, not including pork. The first ceremony is the eating of the ńyuri. The boy or girl is seated on leaves (kibir or tare or ra-čiro) and bundles of these are placed in his belt before and behind. A belt of Pandanus leaf is worn by the boys at this ceremony as well as by the girls. The initiate sits with his legs doubled up beneath him, and is fed with the fish. The ceremony lasts only one day. There is no special dance, but the initiate joins in an ordinary dance at the end of the ceremony, being decorated for this purpose with white clay. After this ceremony the youth must abstain from pork and other foods. The pig-eating ceremony, which closes this period of abstention, lasts altogether for three or four days, the initiate remaining awake for one night. The leaves used are the same as those of the first (fish-eating) ceremony. The third important ceremony of these communities is the honey-eating. The initiate sits cross-legged and honey is rubbed over his or her shoulders and chest, and he or she is fed with it.

I was told by one of my informants that in the Aka-Kede tribe the pig-eating ceremony precedes the turtle-eating, but I could not obtain reliable information about the ceremonies of this tribe.

My informants of the Akar-Bale tribe, which consists of coast-dwelling communities only, told me that the period of abstention begins with turtle, honey, turtle’s eggs, yams, and a number of fruits and seeds. This period lasts for three or four years. Then comes the turtle-eating ceremony, which is said to be similar in its details to that already described from the North Andaman. After this ceremony the initiate may not eat dugong, porpoise and a considerable number of fishes (including Tetrodon sp., Plotosus sp., Anguilla bengalensis, Trygon bleekari, T. siphen, Urogymnus asperrimus, Carcharias gangeticus, etc.). He must also abstain from turtle’s eggs, pig, yams, honey, and certain fruits (e.g. Artocarpus chaplasha, Mimusops littoralis, Baccaurea sapida, etc.). A few months after the turtle-eating ceremony there is a minor ceremony of eating turtle’s eggs, the eggs being eaten in silence and the meal followed by a dance. After another period follows the ceremony of eating pig’s kidney-fat. Then, as opportunity occurs, the initiate eats dugong, honey and the other forbidden foods, one after another. The ceremony in each case is not elaborate except in connection with such important foods as dugong and honey.

Mr E. H. Man has given a description of the ceremonies of the Aka-Bea tribe, which shows that they are essentially similar to those of the North. He does not distinguish between the ceremonies of the aryoto (coast-dwellers) and those of the eremtaga (jungle-dwellers). He states that the fasting period (aka-yaba) is divided into three parts, the first ending with the yadi- (turtle) gumul, the second with the aǰa- (honey) gumul, and the third with the reg-ǰiri- (kidney-fat of pig) gumul.

As I was not able to witness the honey-eating ceremony, I venture to reproduce below the description that Mr Man gives of this ceremony as it is conducted in the Aka-Bea tribe.

“When the honey fast is to be broken a quantity of honeycombs, according to the number assembled, are on the appointed day procured: the aka-yab being placed in the midst of the group, the chief or other elder goes to him with a large honeycomb wrapped in leaves; after helping the novice to a large mouthful, which he does by means of a bamboo or iron knife, he presents the remainder to him, and then leaves him to devour it in silence: this he does, not, however, by the ordinary method, for it is an essential part of the ceremony that he should not use his fingers to break off pieces, but eat it bear-fashion, by holding the comb up to his mouth and attacking it with his teeth and lips. After satisfying his present requirements, he wraps what is left of the comb in leaves for later consumption. The chief then takes another comb and anoints the youth by squeezing it over his head, rubbing the honey well into his body as it trickles down. The proceedings at this stage are interrupted by a bath, in order to remove all traces of the honey, which would otherwise be a source of considerable inconvenience by attracting ants. Beyond the observance of silence, and continued abstention from reg-ǰiri (pig’s kidney-fat), the youth is under no special restrictions, being able to eat, drink and sleep as much as he pleases. Early the following morning the lad decorates himself with leaves of a species of Alpinia, called ǰini [61], and then, in the presence of his friends, goes into the sea (or, if he be an eremtaga, into a creek) up to his waist, where, locking his thumbs together, he splashes as much water as possible over himself and the by-standers, occasionally ducking his head under the surface as well. This is considered a safeguard or charm against snakes, and the onlookers cry “o̱to-pedike, kinig wara-ǰobo lo̱tike” (Go and splash yourself, or Wara-ǰobo [62] will get inside you), for they imagine that unless they go through this splashing performance, this snake will by some means enter their stomachs and so cause death. The only difference between the sexes with respect to the aǰa-gumul is that with females it cannot take place until after the birth of the first child; they are also required to abstain from honey during each subsequent pregnancy; and in their case, too, a chief or elder (preferably a relative) officiates, and not a woman [63].”

We may now proceed to the ritual customs connected with death and burial. In all the Great Andaman tribes disease and death are supposed to be due to the spirits of the jungle and the sea. The subject will be dealt with in the next chapter.

On the occurrence of a death the news quickly spreads through the camp, and all the women collect round the body and, sitting down, weep loudly until they are exhausted. The women then retire and the men come and weep over the corpse. All the adult members of the community then proceed to cover themselves with a wash of common clay smeared evenly over their bodies and limbs. This clay is of the kind called odu in Aka-J̌eru and og in Aka-Bea. The nearer relatives and more intimate friends of the deceased also plaster some of the same clay on their heads.

Some of the women, generally, but not necessarily, relatives, remove any ornaments the dead person may have been wearing, shave the head and decorate the body. This decoration consists of lines of fine pattern in white clay alternating with bands of red paint. A band of red paint is placed across the upper lip passing from ear to ear and the ears themselves are smeared with the pigment. The greater the estimation in which the deceased person is held the greater is the care lavished upon this the last decoration.

Thus decorated the body is prepared for burial. The legs and arms are flexed so that the knees come up under the chin and the fists rest against the cheeks. A Cyrena shell (or sometimes in these days a steel knife) is placed in the closed hand. A sleeping mat is wrapped round the body, and over this a number of the large palm leaves known as ko̱bo (Aka-J̌eru) are arranged and the whole is made into a bundle and tied up with rope. Before the ropes are all tied the relatives of the dead person take their last farewell by gently blowing on the face of the corpse.

The male relatives and friends then proceed to the spot selected for the burial, one of them carrying the corpse slung on his back. If the burial place can be reached by canoe, no hesitation is shown in making use of a canoe for the purpose. There are not, so far as could be discovered, any rules as to which of the men shall undertake the burial. Such relatives as brother, father, son or husband generally take the leading part. The women take no part in the actual burial. There are two modes of disposing of the body, in a grave dug in the ground, or upon a platform placed in a tree. The latter is considered the more honourable form of burial, and is only adopted in the case of a man or woman dying in the prime of life. The same grave is not used twice, in the case of interment, though a new grave may be made close to an old one. The natives said that the same tree might be used several times for platform-burial, but there was no opportunity of proving this statement. There are not, generally speaking, any regular burying grounds. Any convenient spot may be chosen so long as it is at some little distance from the camp. It does happen, however, that certain spots are fairly regularly used. In the case of one burial that I witnessed the spot chosen was about a mile distant from the camp, the journey being made in a canoe, and there were already five or six graves at the same place.

In the case of interment a hole is dug three or four feet in depth, the digging being done with an adze and a digging stick, and sometimes a wooden dish is used to scoop out the soil. The body is placed in the hole and the ropes tied round it are severed. The body is placed slightly on its side facing the east. I asked some of the natives the reason for this orientation, and was told that if the custom were not observed the sun would not rise and the world would be left in darkness. A pillow of wood is placed under the head, and a log of wood at each side of the corpse. Sometimes some object that has been worn by the deceased, such as a belt or necklace, is placed in the grave. The soil is then replaced, all present helping. Beside the grave a fire is lighted and some water contained in a bamboo vessel or in a nautilus shell is left for the corpse. In some cases the bow belonging to the deceased, if it be a man, and a few arrows are placed on the grave. In the Aka-Čari tribe a harpoon and line are substituted for the bow and arrows, and a bamboo harpoon shaft is erected vertically in the grave near the right hand of the body. In the same tribe it is usual to suspend near the grave a bundle of the prepared fibre of Anadendron paniculatum such as is used for making thread. There are probably slight variations of custom in this respect in different tribes or even in different cases in the same tribe.

In the case of platform-burial a platform of sticks is erected in a tree, twelve feet or so above the ground, and the body is placed thereon, lying sideways facing the east. Water and fire are placed beneath the tree. Mr Man states that in cases of tree-burial they are careful not to select a fruit tree or one of a species used for the manufacture of their canoes, bows and other implements. Such natives as I questioned on this point said that this was not so and that they would use any suitable tree whether one that was useful or not. I was unable definitely to prove the point, as I did not see a single instance of tree-burial during my stay in the islands. A tree that is sometimes used for this purpose is the Ficus laccifera, which as we have seen has a special connection with the spirits of new-born children. On the coast, mangrove trees, such as the Rhizophora or Bruguiera, are said to be used.

When the burial is completed, whether in a grave or a tree, plumes made of shredded palm-leaf stem koro (Aka-J̌eru) or ara (Aka-Bea) are attached near the graves to the branches of trees or shrubs or to sticks put up for the purpose. This is done, it is said, to show any native, who might inadvertently approach, that there has been a burial at the spot. The undergrowth is cleared for a short distance round the grave.

The men then return to the camp, where the women have been busy packing up all belongings. Plumes of shredded palm-leaf stem (koro) are put up at the entrance to the camp, to show chance visitors that there has been a death. The camp is then deserted, the natives moving to some other camping ground until the period of mourning is over, when they may, if they wish, return to the deserted village. No one goes near the grave again until the period of mourning is over.

In the case of very young children the burial ceremony is different. There is no general mourning of the whole camp. Only the father and mother and a few other relatives weep over the dead body. The head of the corpse is shaved and the body is decorated in the same way as that of an adult. The body is wrapped up in palm leaves (Licuala), the limbs being flexed. The fire is then removed from its customary place and a grave is dug there in the floor of the hut. In this the child’s body is placed, the grave is filled in and the fire replaced above it. Not only is the camp not deserted, but there seems to be an obligation on the parents not to leave the place until the bones have been dug up, or at any rate for some weeks after the death. If the mother went away, the natives say, the baby would cry for its mother’s milk. This is the custom of the Northern tribes. Referring to the Southern tribes, Mr Man says that the baby is buried beneath the fireplace and the camp is then deserted, the mother placing beside the grave a shell containing some milk squeezed from her breasts. Some of my informants of the Southern tribes (Akar-Bale, etc.) told me however that the camp would not be deserted in the case of the death of an infant, thus contradicting Mr Man’s statement. As there was no opportunity of testing the point by reference to an actual case, it must be left as doubtful. In the Northern tribes when an older child dies the body is buried away from the camp, but the latter is not, at any rate in all instances, deserted, though the hut in which the death occurred may be destroyed and a new one built a short distance away. It is only in the case of the death of an adult that the camp is abandoned.

In connection with the burial of a baby beneath the hearth there is a belief that the soul of the dead baby may re-enter the mother and be born again. This would seem to be one of the reasons why the mother does not leave the camp when her baby dies.