Page:The Indian Antiquary, Vol. 4-1875.djvu/369

 342 THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY. [Novemites, 1875. painted screen not being- intended to be more than an ornamental object, as the wooden images of men which aro commonly to be seen in Nicobarese houses are believed to be,* there are several features about it which lead me to ihe conclusion that it is really a record of some event, and I therefore believe that the following account will not be uninteresting to some of the readers of the Indian Antiquary. The original is now in Europe, but a photo- graph, from which the accompanying iHnfitn is taken, represents faithfully its appearance. The material of which it is made is either the glume of a bamboo or the spathe o£ a palm which has been flattened out and framed with split bamboos. It is about three feet long by eighteen inches broad. The figures are painted with vermilion, their outlines being surrounded v.iih punctures which allow the light to pass through. Suspended from the frame are Borne young cocoanuts aud fragments of dried bogs'-fle-sh. As in all such Nicobarese paintings which I have either seen or heard of, figures of the sun, moon and stars occupy prominent positions. Now the sun and moon are stated by those who known the Nicobarese best to be especial objects of adoration, and therefore this document may liave some religious significance; but, as these particular figures occnr in all, they may perhaps be regarded as the orthodox heading for even purely ccvil records. At first it occurred to me that this was merely an inventory of the property of the deceased, but as some of the objects are certainly not such as we should expect to find in an enumeration of property — c.<j. the lizard — while the figures of human beings appear to ponrtray particular emotions, it seems probable that the objects • jntod have a more or less conventional meaning, and that we have here a document of as bond fide and translatable a character as any glypbic inscription from Egypt. My own efforts to discover an interpretation from the natives on the spot were not crowned with success. I have now to regret thai I did as soma of the more intelligent Bad intelligible natives near the settlement at Kamorta would probably havo been able to ex- plain the moaning of the signs. The following is a list of the objects depicted j i animals, many of the common ut in use in a Nicobarese household are included : — 1. The sun. 2. The moon. ■3. Swallows or (?) flying fish. Impression of the forepart of a human foot. 5. A lizard or (?) crocodile. (!. Three men in various attitudes.f 7. Two Mb for cutting jungle. 8. Earthen cooking-pots. 9. Two birds. 10. An axe. 11. Two spears. 12, Possibly a ladder. 13. Di.-di for food. 11. Cocoanut water- vessels. 15. Palm-tree. 16. A canoe. 1?. Three pigs. 18. Shed for drying fruit of Pcmdai 19. Domestic fowl. 20. Seaman's che 21. Dog. -1-1. Ii~h of different kind-;. 23. Turtle. SANTALf SONGS, WITH TEA XS LATIONS AND NOTES. COMMUNICATED BY REV. J. .Ml" II I! AY MITCHELL, LL.D. T formerly communicated some Mnndari-Kulh songs, translated from the German version of the Rev. TIi. Jcllinghaus. These appeared ii tary for February last (pp. 51 ff). I have now the pleasure of forwarding both the Original and the translation of a few Sun tali songs, — or fragments of several songs, more pro- bably. Kxphnatory notes are added. The whole has been kindly supplied, at my request, by Mr. A. Campbell, of the Free Church Mi Pachamba. Mr. Jcllinghaus lived chiefly at R&ncht, nnd • Inquiry od the ftpot I''<1 BW to tbei MO --Union that these images are no more idols thai <l-]KuntingB of oar Mcestora with which our houses are adorned. -h be does not mention the precise vvliirh the person resided from whom be obtained ill-- -Miinduri songs which he translated, if pro mis in the district near BAnchL Mr. Camp- I.M.H resides about 120 mites to the ease of this. The evidence of language proves ineontestably the eh i of the Munda-Kolli.-- and the bals. 1. Netom tema Piyo cheiircti, kofie tema daura daka, Saraifi me Piyo, n me. + The first of these ia numbered by miistaka ou the plate