NICOBAR, Sambalang, or Nine Islands, in the Bay of Bengal, between lat. 6° 40' and 9° 20' N., have an area of 735 square miles. The Danes formed a settlement on this group in 1756, but abandoned it twelve years after. In 1864, Cap tain Steem Bille, the commander of a Danish corvette, reported to his Government their un healthy character, and that Government finally abandoned them. The Indian Government, on the 15th July 1872, annexed the Andarnans, the Great and Little Cocos, and the Nicobar Islands, the islands of Car Nicobar and Great Nicobar, with those lying between them, including Tillan chong. The Nicobars are not more than 120 miles distant from the west end of Sumatra. The popula tion is about 6000. Those of Malay origin are of a sallow copper colour, with small oblique eyes, the whites of which have a yellowish tinge ; their noses are flat, their mouths large, their lips thick ; their persons are well proportioned but short, their hair coarse and black, and little or no beard. The back of their heads is extremely flat, it being made so by compression in infancy. They are lazy, cowardly, drunken, indolent, and apathetic ; in a rude state of society, and unac quainted with anyof the ordinary arts. Agriculture is unknown, their industry being confined to fishing, raising a few roots, fruits, and palms, and rearing the hog, dog, and common fowl. The people are supposed to have cut off many sailing ships. There are many wild cattle from a breed introduced by the Danes. The many dialects of the Nicobars have been supposed to be allied to those of the brown complexioned people of the Archipelagb. They suppose that the soul of the dead stays for a time in the neighbourhood in which it lived. Burials are conducted with great solemnity, and over each body a post is erected, on which are placed the utensils daily used by the deceased. Cakenas
Nicobaricus, the Nicobar pigeon, is of great size and splendour ; its appearance and habits exhibit a near approach to the gallinaceous birds. It lives chiefly on the ground, runs with great swiftness, and flies up into a tree when disturbed. Its nest is of the,JudP platform construction usual among the pigeon family; one of them found was built in a tree about ten feet from the ground, and contained a single white egg.— Crawfurd ; As. Res. ; J. Ind. Arch. ; Rec. Govt. Ind. ; ; Horsburgh.
111 CI A NICOLO-di-CONTI, or in Latin Dc COmitibus, a Venetian of noble family, who resided as a merchant in the city of Damascus about A.D. 1419. He passed through Persia, sailed along the coast of Malabar, visited Bengal, Cambay, Vizianagar, Palconda, St. Thom6, Ceylon, Su matra, Tenasserim, Ava, Java, thence returned to Quilon, Cochin, Catient, Socotra, and home ward. On his return passed along the coasts of Ethiopia, sailed up the Red Sea, crossed the desert, and reached Cairo, where he lost his wife and two children, and returned to Venice iii 1444, after twenty-five years' absence. As a penance for having apostatized to the Muham madan religion, the Pope Eugene iv. required him to relate his adventures to Poggio Braccio lini, the Pope's secretary, and the original Latin appeared in the fourth book of Poggio's treatise, de Varietate Fortuni, libri quatuor, Paris 1723. He speaks highly of what he saw about Gujerat. He found the banks of the Ganges (or perhaps the Megna) covered with towns amidst beautiful gardens and orchards, and he passed four cities before he reached Maarazia, which he described as a powerful city filled with gold, silver, and precious stones.—Ind. in 15th Century ; Ranntsio, p. 359 ; Elph. p. 427.