Author Description

This book has been written at the request of Lieutenant-Colonel R. C. Temple, C.I.E., Chief Commissioner of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, who, on assuming that office in August 1894, was anxious that the records of the Government relations with the Andamanese, which were perishing, with all that had been written about this interesting race before their occupation of this islands, should be condensed into one work before it was too late. After giving a description of the Andaman Islands, and of the appearance and customs of the Andamanese, he quotes all that has been written about those islands from the earliest times up to the date of their first settlement on them in the last century; and the present work, if not containing all that is known, at least has, between two covers, a larger number of the earlier records than any other; for in addition to the assistance afforded him in this direction by Colonel Yule's article on the Andaman Islands in the ninth edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica. The book is in two volumes. The writer then includes all that can be discovered regarding their occupation of the Andamans from 1789 to 1796 to make it an interesting discourse.About the Author:-Maurice Vidal Portman (1860 - 1935) was a British naval officer, who is best known for documenting several Andamanese tribes between 1879 and 1901 when he was posted as a superintendent of the Andaman Island Penal Colony. He joined the Royal Indian Marine at the age of 16 and was some time in charge of the Viceroy's yacht. In July 1879 he was stationed at Port Blair in the Andaman Islands and made Officer in Charge of the Andamanese, a post which he held for more than 20 years with few interruptions (including December 1880 to December 1883 on sick leave, March 1887 to March 1888 on furlough). He was able to befriend the natives to pacify some previously hostile tribes, especially the Onge people of Little Andaman Island, but also used force against them on occasion