Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1860-09-20

A Nation Of Pigmies I'm Africa

10 tne south OF kafa and Susa there il a
very sultry and humid country, with msnv
H1snooo Hn woods, inhabited by the race called
Ookos, who are NO bigger than bows of ten
2 years OLD that Is only four feet high. Thew
nave dark, olive-cciored completion. and
i've IN completely savage state. like the
oeasts having neither houses, temples. nor
noly trees; like the Gsllas, yet possessing
S%ometni1g % IKE an idea Of a higher being called
Ter, and to whorl, in moments of vrstcRedness
and anxiety, they pray-not in an. erect pos
s1Is, Sut rev'Irsed, with the head on the ground,
nu tne zee supported upright against tree
In prayer they say: oyer, If thou
ey c-oes exist, why dost thou allow us thus
eTo e slain! We do not ask thee for food and
Sio hing, for We live on serpents, ants, and
Ace Thou hast made us and why dost thou
permit MS to be troddsn under footlh The Do
Kos have no chief, no laws, no weapons thew
do not hunt nor till the ground, but live solely
on fruits, roots, mice, serpents, ants honey, and
the IKE, climbing trees and gathering the fruits
Ike monkeys, and both sexes 20 com mrietelv
naked. They have thick, protrudinv lips a.,
noses and small eyes; the hair is not wooIly
and is worn by the women over the shouldars
The nails on the hand end feet are allow eJ 20
grow like the talons Of vultures and are used
10 diggins iof an and in tearing to pieces the
selpents "n;.;h they devOur raw, for they are
un1equaino led with fro The spine of the snake
Is the only ornament worn round the neck b1t
Of wood. s''N p''ee
The Dokos multiply very rapidly, but have
no regular marriages, no settled home, each in
Perieot independence, going whittier fancy
me mother nurses her child only for a
snort time, accustoming it as soon as possibIa
70 the eating OF ants and serpents and as soon
as the child can help itself the mother Ist. !,
depart whittier it pleases. Although these n.o'
PIE hve In thick woods, and conceal themsaIvs.
ssnohgst me trees, yet they become the prev of
IuS T,,a ters OF eusa, Kaffa, DUN 5aro and
huia; ior whole regions of their woods a srs an
elrcied oy the hunters, so that mo DoLos 80
not easily escape. When tie .i.ra hnntar.
come ln sight Of the poor oreatnras thov LnIJ
up clothes OF bright COLI rrs, singing and danc.
ing, upon which the Dokos allow tbsmselves 10
e1nar;en .s I.luout resistance, knowing from
and n.n I..d such resistance is fruitless,
tho" ,u -iy to their destruction. In this
way 1Ho1sar .ds can be captured by a small
con,a =, o,: ~ -nters; and once captured they be-
to; " 4te docile. In slavery the DokSs re-
@ .aIn heir prediction for feeding On mice
90 ents and ants, although often on that ac
Sont punished oy their masters, who in other
respects are attached 10 them as thew ara
dociie and obedieat, have few wants. and
ENJOY good health, for which reasons they are
never sold as slaves beyond Enarea. As dis
eases are not known among them, they die
only OF old age, or through the assaults of their
enemies 0-A
SoAnVs oo ucCluoQ WQetler these DokOs
are the pigmies who, accordin. to Herodotus.
were discovered near q great river in the vi
clnlty OF Central Africa by two youths dis
patched by Etearch, King of the Oasis of Am
mon; yet can bear witnsss that I heard of
these little people not only in Shoe, but also
In Ukambani,twe degrees in the south, and in
Barsvia, degree and-s-half to the north of
the equator. In Bsrsva slave was shown to
me who accorded completely with the descrip-
ton OF the Dokos. He was four feet high. .yery
thick set, dark eemplexioned, and liyely' and
the people Of the place assured me that be was
of the pigmy race Of the interior 1t is not i'm
possible too, that circumstances, such as con-
unued rains from May to January, and other
means, may contribute to produce a diminu.
tive people of stunted development in the inte-
nor OF Africa. Il pyiori, therefore the reports
collected from different and mutually Inds-
pendent points Of Africa cannot be directly
contradlcted; only care must be taken 10 er-
anime with caution the fabulous element mix
ed up with what may be true by native renort-
e. efs, .n In ;, the Snohili dialect "dOgo" means
:. Snsa S%aI :. and IN the language of Anarea
pid person. ''N