The Colonial and Indian Exhibition is opened
The Colonial and Indian Exhibition was opened in South Kensington to a public audience. Over the course of its opening, the exhibit was visited by well over 5 million people of Britian. While it may not be confirmed, it's likely that Doyle's depiciton of Tonga came form this exhbit as he would write Sign of Four 4 years later. The exhibit contained several racist clay figures of Andamanese people and they were often depicted in threatening gestures. The people of the Andamans were referred to as "savages" and being less than that of the "white man." They weren't even treated like people and were given more animalistic figures by the crafters of the clay figures.
In "Model Subjects: Representations of the Andaman Islands at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition, 1886," Claire Wintel discusses the regression that the exhibit of the Andamanese caused. While science was beginning to understand the people of the island, the public perception took a nose dive when the exhibit was opened. Scientists were shut out because of the opinions that had been created once the exhibit was open. The wide perception of the exhibit caused many to jump to assumptions about the people of the Andaman Islands. One rumor was created about the people being savages without any basis for it!