The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-06-17 00:00:00

THE DWARFS OF INNER AFRICA.

In a paper communicated by M. de Lesseps to the
French Academy of Sciences, M. Mariette' better
known as Mariette-Bey, the distinguished Egypto-
logist, gives an account of the Akkas, or dwarfs of
Inner Africa. He says it is generally believed this
singular race inhabits a space of 1,000 square leagues
under the equatorial zone of this vast continent, the
route lying through the country of the Niam-Nianas
and that of the Mombootloos. Dwarfs are frequently
met with in Egypt, but only as pathological deformi-
ties, not as belonging to a peculiar race; and
perhaps the same may be said of those represented
in the grotto of Beni-Hassan, as servants of the
Pharaohs or their great dignitaries. In former
times dwarfs played a great part in the
Egyptian religion. The mythological ones are the
Bees, that dealers in antiquities call tryphons. These
are dwarfy gods ; they are short set, with small legs and
curly beards. When represented as of a natural size,
they are generally painted yellow, a circumstance de-
noting an Asiatic origin. The Bess are supposed to be
Phceaicians ; Herodotus calls them Phtlpatics and their
images used to be placed at the prows of PCcenician
boats. The Bess of that description descend from
the "land of the Poons," which was long thought to
he Arabia, but ia in paint of fact, the country of
the Somalis—that is, the southern coast of the Gulf
of Aden, near the island of Socotra, which was called
" tho divine land," because Osiris was born there.
Now, these Bess have the same characteristics as the
Akkas of antiquity, and several of them have a tail,
which circumstance may have led to the legend of the
Niam Niams. In Egyptian, %Gana means a dwarf, and
• Akka is an infant at the breast. According to the
ancient ritual for burials, the deceased was provided
with a series of prayers, by which he was to conquer
all the serpents, crocodiles, and monsters that obstructed
the route to the other world, and pigmies, called IVern-
nem, were supposed to fight for Lim all the way. M.
Marietta seems to think that the language now spoken
by the Niam-Niams when conversing with their
neighbours the Akkas must have been an old Egyptian
dialect.
GARDENS IN NEW GUINEA.

S me notion of the luxuriance of the vegetation of
the Maclay Coast may be got from the following ;
So thickly is the coast of Astrolabe Gulf novena with
vegetation that houses are almost invisible, the only
signs of habitation being perhaps columns of smoke,
If, however, more careful observation be made, separate
groups of Cocoa nut Palms will be noticed. The plan-
tations or gardens of the natives are seldom laid out
' near their huts, but, for the sake of security, are hidden
in the jungle. A clearing is made by cutting down
the underwood, and, after it has been dried in the sun,
,it is set on fire. The space thus prepared is then sur-
rounded by a hedge, consisting of two rows of a kind
of Sugar- cane (Saccharum spontaneum), which soon
takes root, the opposite stems being fastened
together with Lianas, and the space between the
rows filled with rough-hewn logs. In leas than a
month's time a new plantation is put in full order and
planted with bananas, sugnr-cane, and the Colocasia
and the Dioscorea. The tools which are used for this
purpo3e are very simple, being the udja, a strong stick
about two yards in length, and sharpened at one end—
the implement of the men ; and the udja-sab, which is
used by the women, a kind of small spade. The
Papuans have throuhout the year a rotation of fruit
and vegetables. Every day the women go forth to
fetch from the plantations what is necessary for the
same evening and the following morning. Tne coast
People have the most property in cultivated land.—
Garden.