We hove up anchor at 8 A.M.--the hour at which a breeze usually sprang up--and sailed for Pulo Bábi, a few miles down the coast, taking as passenger an old man named Domeat who had been staying at Kópenhéat. He produced a number of _chits_ for our perusal, and from one we learned that it was Domeat--now a toothless, but sturdy old gentleman, with nutcracker jaws and a benevolent expression--who brought news of the recovery of the body of Captain Elton, commander of the station gunboat, who was drowned in the surf while attempting to land at Trinkat Sambelong[80] village, on the east coast, in March 1881. Most of the letters were written by Asiatics, and from them it seemed that the last Malay vessel to call at the islands arrived in 1877. Many formerly came to purchase coconuts, but this people, like our own nation, has been ousted from the trade by the inhabitants of China and the Indian Empire. According to our informant, the Chinese pay the coast natives one packet of tobacco (value 2-1/2d.) for three bundles of rattan, while the Nicobarese, who act merely as middlemen, and have the export trade in their hands, only give the Shom Pe[.n] one packet for six bundles! The bush aborigines have no settled dwelling-places, but wander about, although they have good gardens established in various localities. Their language is quite distinct from the Nicobarese,[81] but each knows enough of the others' speech to make themselves mutually understood. Asked, however, whether further south we could get a man who knew the Shom Pe[.n] language, Domeat replied: "When one of us sees a Shom Pe[.n] he runs away, and when a Shom Pe[.n] sees a Nicobar man he spears him!"[82] Misunderstandings frequently occurred when we talked to him about the various places on the coast. The name given on the chart is often not known to the natives: the Chinese have another name, which is not given on the chart, and the natives have a third, but are generally familiar with that used by the traders. I believe the following to be correct:-- _Chart._ _Trade Name._ _Native Name._ Pulo Kunyi, Pulo Kunyi, Pulo Kunyi. Casuarina Bay, ---- Teh-hmeul. Dagmar R., ---- Ta-tí-al. Kópenhéat, Telok Bintang, Kópenhéat. Táeangha, Pulo Nyur, Kassandun. Koé, Pulo Rotan, Koé. ---- Pulo Bábi, Kánal. Henpoin, Pulo Bharu, Henpoin. Megapode Island, Pulo Kotah, ---- Henhóaha, Pulo Paha, Henhóa. Chang-ngeh, Pulo Chaura, Chang-ngeh. Galathea R., ---- Sakheer. ---- ---- Badói.