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SELUNGS OF THE MERGUI ARCHIPELAGO.
89
III. From the Commissioner of the Tenaskerim Division, to the Secretary to the
Chief Commissioner, British Burma - 13th July 1882. I have the honour to forward herewith, for the information of the Chief Commissioner, a Report, dated the 21st ultimo, from the Depaty Commissioner, Mergui, on the subject of the Salones, together with its annexures in original.
From Mr. Menzies' Report, dated the 20th June 1860, it would appear that at that period the Salones frequented Mergui to a much greater extent than was subsequently the case, so far as my information goes; but why this should have been so it is difficult to understand.
IV.
From the Deputy Commissioner, Mergui, to the Commissioner of Tenasserim -
dated 21st June 1882. The facts related by Dr. Anderson, taken generally, are, no doubt, correct, but they have alrendy been, from time to time, brought to the notice of Government by my predecessors in office for the last twenty years, and several philanthropic attempts have been made, both by Government and Missionaries, to ameliorate their condition without success.
The following letters, written 20 years ago, of which I enclose copies, give the result of careful and interesting enquiries then made by the different officers in charge of this district, and give a very complete and comprehensive account of the race:-- (1) Dated the 11th August 1857, from Colonel Ryan, Deputy Commissioner, giving
extracts of a Sketch of the Salones by Dr. Helfer. (2) Dated the 11th May 1858, by Captain Stevenson, Deputy Commissioner. (3) Dated the 20th June 1860, by H. C. Menzies, Doputy Commissioner, a full and very
graphic account and most interesting, from the perusal of which it will be seen that every endeavour has been made to improve their situation, but in vain. They were freed from taxation, and a paid headman was appointed to report all cases of crimes, but from Mr. Menzies' Report it will be seen that he was the head of only one group, and inclined to be jealous of other more numerous or powerful factions than his own; he drew his pay, but never made a single report of crime, and
consequently the pay was subsequently withdrawn. Missionaries settled amongst them, and tried to get them to settle down, but to no purpose.
As to the statement reported to Dr. Anderson by his interpreter," that Hama, the headman of the Done or Elphinstone group, would be very glad to settle on land and cultivate, provided they were assured of protection and would not be taxed for the land for some years, until they had some return for their labour of clearing, etc.," this is certainly opposed to all the information we have hitherto gained, whether from Government officers or from Missionaries, and also to my own experiences.
Dr. Helfer states : -" These boats, not longer than 20 feet, are the true homes of the Salones; to it he entrusts his life and property; in it he wanders during his lifetime from island to island; a true ichthyophagist, to whom the Earth has no charm, and whom he neglects so much that he does not entrust to her a single grain of rice."
Captain Stevenson writes : -"Mr. Kincaid, an American Missionary, who visited these people in 1838, says the Salones are very poor, having no houses, no gardens, no cultivated fields, nor any domestic animals but dogs."
