These bows have either been copied from the weapons of the early voyagers, or, more probably, have been introduced by the Burmese, amongst whom and the Karens there exists an article almost exactly similar. Tools of European model are now common, and for fashioning canoes, houses, etc., imported axes, saws, adzes, planes, and spokeshaves are used, in addition to the _dáo_. The latter is never fitted with a handle, and from constant use of it thus, thick ridges of skin and corns form on the inside of the natives' hands. It is found that the bare tang is very convenient for picking up coconuts; for retaining the weapon when up in the palm trees, by sticking it into the bark, thus leaving both hands free; for punching two holes in the opposite sides of a nut, through which the water may be extracted by suction; and for many other purposes. The Nicobarese rarely use nets for fishing. Besides occasionally employing small casting nets purchased from traders,--the construction of which they never themselves attempt--they make and use a primitive net trap, which is baited and held a foot or two below the surface by the fisherman, who, on seeing a fish nibbling at the bait, promptly raises the trap, thereby catching the fish in the netting. The fish are obtained either by hook and line (imported), or by spearing by day or at night with the aid of blazing torches of coconut leaf. Open-meshed traps of rattan, of various sizes and shapes, with funnel-shaped mouth leading towards the interior, are in common use, and are sunk in the sea-bottom in suitable places. They also construct weirs of coconut leaves (_Tanánga_--Kar Nicobar; _Kan-Sháng_--Nankauri), by means of which large quantities of fish are generally caught. These are employed only during the dry season when the sea is fairly calm. Finally, the narcotic property possessed by the seeds of _Barringtonia speciosa_[174] is made use of; for, in pools and confined waters, the addition of a small quantity of a paste, made of the mashed kernels, acts like "tuba," causing all the fish present to become insensible and rise to the surface, where they may be collected at leisure. Turtle are common about the islands, and many skulls are to be met with in the houses of the natives, by whom they are used for the expulsion of demons. They are captured when floating on the sea by means of a harpoon with a skewer-shaped iron head, which, when fast in the shell, detaches from the shaft and remains connected by a short piece of cord only.