In 1880, in an effort to establish contact with the Islanders, British naval officer
Maurice Vidal Portman (1860–1935), who was serving as a
colonial administrator to the
Andaman and Nicobar Islands at the time, led a group of Europeans to North Sentinel Island. Upon the arrival of the armed group, Islanders fled into the treeline but, after several days ashore, Portman's men were ultimately able to capture six individuals, an elderly man and woman and four children. The man and woman died shortly after or before their arrival in
Port Blair, likely from disease, and so Portman attempted to befriend the surviving children by giving them gifts before returning them to North Sentinel Island, in hopes that the children would help village elders realise the British were friendly. The attempt was unsuccessful, likely due to the aggressive manner of Portman's visit to the island and the fact that his efforts resulted in the deaths of two Sentinelese people.
[11][25]Additionally, due to differences in culture, the children might not have recognised the gifts as such.