long sausage. The _Wall-snake_ climbs
a wall with great agility, and is small and spotted. The bite of all
these serpents is attended with great danger; indeed I believe there is
not one of this class of animals that is not more or less venomous,
though some in a very slight, and almost imperceptible degree. Their
poison principally affects the blood, and is not hurtful to a sound
skin. Yet I hardly ever cased one of the larger serpents for stuffing,
but I turned sick with the extraordinary, musky, and loathsome smell of
their flesh, though ever so fresh.

But I have detained you already too long with this unsavoury subject,
and will, in my next, proceed to answer your inquiries concerning the
habits and customs of the natives of the Nicobar islands.

LETTER V.

The natives of these islands are a free people, perfectly independent,
but have a captain in every village. There are, indeed, several who
claim the rank of captain, as being more sensible and clever than their
neighbours, but only one of the number is considered as the _Omjah
karru_, or the great master of the house. Yet no one is bound to obey
him, for all of them, male and female, consider themselves under no
control whatever; and the captain must take care, that he does not
offend, by pretending to command. He is sure to be disobeyed, unless
they are pleased to listen to friendly representation. All the
preference given him, consists in this; that when a ship arrives, he is
allowed to go first on board, and to make the bargain, if they have any
thing to barter. They are commonly good-natured men, disposed to make
and preserve peace among the common people. In every other respect they
live and act like the rest, get drunk, commit fornication, and, when
there is, as they say, a necessity for it, murder; and are equally lazy
and unclean. But they can use their tongues more glibly than their
neighbours.

Their houses are generally spacious, and built upon pillars, six or
more feet from the ground, resembling those of the Malays, but round,
not square, like the latter. The inhabitants ascend by a ladder, which
they can draw up after them. The house has only one room, but generally
contains more than one family. Parents and children, guests, young and
old of every description, pig here together, lying naked on the floor,
with nothing but a _hetfat_, the leaf of a species of palm, under them,
in lieu of a mattrass, and very few have any covering. The fu