Note 39 — Chapter VIII
Reading edition
Dr Scherzer (Cruise of the "Novara") states that they were used for frightening away the devil and driving him into the sea. Cf., however, the Ma-ya-kuv-ka-ma-ka of the Kar Nicobarese (p. 295); and also an old Kar Nicobarese custom: "In every village there is a high pole erected, with long strings of rattan hanging from it, which it is said has virtue to keep the devil at a distance" (Hamilton, Asiatic Researches, vol. ii.). On the other hand, Colebrooke (Asiatic Researches, vol. iv.), writes: "In front of the villages, and a little advanced in the water, they plant beacons of a great height, which they adorn with tufts made of grass or the bark of some tree. These objects are discernible at a great distance, and are intended probably as landmarks; their houses, which are overshadowed by thick groves of coconut trees, seldom being visible from afar."