The Sun.
London, England, 1858-03-22 00:00:00

THE ANDAMAN ISLANDS.

The last of the Moguls, the unworthy representative
of a once powerful though barbarous dynasty, has been
placed in the dock, convicted of being accessary to foul
murder and treason, and sentenced to transportation for
life. The few renaming years, or rather months, of his
miserable existence are to be endured amid the savage
population of a group of small islands in the Bay of Ben-
gal. Since the year 1824, then the British expedition
against Burmah assembled at Port Cornwallis, the An-
damans have scarcely been henrd of in this country, and
even their position on the map is still comparatively un-
known. The principal island is also the most northerly
f the group, and t xtends 140 miles in length, by 20 in
breadth. The Little Andaman, on the other hand, is the
most southerly, but does not exceed 28 miles in length
by 17 in breadth. In the centre of the Great Andaman
the land rises to the altitude of 2,400 feet, forming a
well-known beacon to mariners—the Saddle Peak. A
few small streams thence descend to the sea. Various
kinds of timber suitable for ship-building are hand in
abundance ; but the only fruit worthy of mention is the
mangrove : the cocoa-nut, which flourishes in the neigh-
bouring Nicobars, does not grow in these islands.
Many varieties of fish are caught off the coast, and con-
stitute the chief food of the barbarous inhabitants, who
also indulge in lizards, snakes, guanam, and rats. On
the skirts of the forest which occupies the interior of the
principal island, are seen herds of a diminutive species
of hog, supposed to be descended from a shipwrecked
stock. With the skulls and bones of these animals the
islanders adorn their huts, and were thence accused of
cannibalism, from a belief that their favourite ornaments
were the indigestible remains of human beings whom
they had slain and devoured. They are, in truth, a cruel
and savage race. All attempts to communicate with
them have been repelled by darts and flights of arrows.
They are described as resembling a degenerate tribe of
Degrees. They have woolly hair, thick lips, and a flat
nose ; their stature seldom exceeds five feet ; their colour
is a deep, unshaded black ; and their costume that of
primeval Adam before the fall. Their huts consist of four
poles driven into the ground and interwoven with boughs
of trees. Their chief want is a sufficiency of food, in
search of which they are constantly prowling along the
shores or climbing steep rocks ; their chief annoyance is
from the countless insects that infest the islende, to guard
ag inet which they plaster themselves over with miel,
and thus sender their skin as impenetrable as the hide
of a hippopotamus. Their woolly hair is painted with
red ochre to an extent that would excite the envy
of the Gael. But wild as is their aspect and fierce their
disposition, they are nevertheless amenable to the laws
of p diteness and ,good breeding. That man is con-
sidered a boor and no gentleman who does not salute
his neighbour in a becoming manner by lifting one leg
and smiting the lower part of the thigh with the open
hand,—A lien's Indian Mail.

THE LIVERPOOL ASSIZES. —TEE CALENDAR—Mr.
Baron Martin and Mr. Justice Byles open the Liverpool
Assizes to-ilay. The cause list is not yet published, but
the criminal business, judging from the calendar, which
contains as yet only SO names of prisoner, will be light.
Comparatively low of the offences are of an aggravated
description. The trial of Captain Christie and his mate
Millard, for killing /a sailor named Rodriguez, on the
high seas' will be one of much importance to the nauti-
cal world. The offence however is mach milder in its
character than that for which Etlierfl ezecutod.
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