In the Andamans and Nicobars: The Narrative of a Cruise in the Schooner "Terrapin" — Background and Themes

Collecting as the Organizing Principle

The preface establishes a clear division of labor: 'all the collecting and preparation was done by my companion, whose guest I was, and myself.' Kloss's role as guest-observer is explicit, and he credits his companion with the specimen work. The narrative's structure follows the cruise's itinerary, with each island or anchorage providing opportunities for trapping and preserving. Kloss notes that 'sixteen new varieties were obtained in the Andamans and Nicobars together,' raising the known mammalian fauna from twenty-four to forty individuals. This quantitative framing—new species as increments to a known total—reflects a systematic, taxonomic approach.

The text also reveals the limitations of the author's perspective. Kloss writes that 'such observations as I have been able to chronicle were, for the greater part, made during the periods of actual collecting.' This suggests that the narrative is not a comprehensive survey but a byproduct of a targeted scientific expedition. The reader should expect detailed accounts of trapping methods and specimen preparation rather than sustained ethnographic or geographic description.

The Penal Settlement as a Counter-Narrative

Although the catalog subjects do not mention the penal colony, a substantial excerpt describes Port Blair in terms that rival the natural history content. Kloss praises the settlement's achievements: 'They began with the dense forests, the fetid swamps, and the pestilential coral banks of tropical islands, and have made out of them many square miles of grass and arable lands.' The tone is admiring, emphasizing the transformation of a 'deadly climate' into a 'healthiness' that is 'favourably spoken of.'

Kloss details the settlement's self-sufficiency: it grows its own vegetables, tea, coffee, cocoa, tapioca, and arrowroot; supplies its own animal food, fuel, and salt; builds its own boats; and manufactures convict clothing from raw cotton and wool. The description of the 'Corps of Artificers' and the challenges of training convicts—'only about 3 per cent. of the convicts sent there having been previously employed on the work required'—reads as an administrative case study. This section sits uneasily alongside the natural history focus, suggesting that the book serves dual purposes: scientific record and colonial boosterism.

Voice, Audience, and the Limits of the Excerpts

Kloss's prose is direct and unadorned, favoring factual enumeration over literary flourish. The preface addresses a specialist audience: he hopes his record 'may stimulate some more competent observer and chronicler than myself to visit the latter islands.' The modesty is strategic, acknowledging that the Andamans 'have already been described in an admirable monograph by one who dwelt there for many years.' Kloss positions his work as a supplement, adding details about 'supplies, anchorages, etc.' that might aid future expeditions.

The excerpts do not include any ethnographic descriptions of indigenous peoples, despite the book's subtitle promising 'Notices of the Islands, Their Fauna, Ethnology, Etc.' The catalog subjects list 'natural history' and 'description and travel,' but the ethnological component is absent from the provided text. Readers should be cautious: the book may contain ethnographic content elsewhere, but the excerpts show no evidence of it. The focus remains on the naturalist's work and the penal colony's infrastructure, with the author's voice consistently that of a practical collector rather than a cultural observer.

Readers approaching this narrative should expect a hybrid text: part field journal, part colonial report. The scientific claims are specific and verifiable—new mammal varieties, bird species, and specimen counts—while the administrative passages offer a window into British imperial governance. The excerpts do not resolve whether Kloss's ethnological observations match the catalog promise, so the book's full scope remains uncertain. What is clear is that the cruise aboard the schooner Terrapin produced a record that is as much about the settlers as the islands themselves.