The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1883-07-20
Tl't DAILY 1Bullsfiq
FRIDAY, JULY 20, 1883.
A HAIRY RACE OF PEOPLE.

been given TO hairy race of people
by the arrival in England of Farini's
Krao, which came, / believe, from
Laos. Some thirty years ago, ira
Yelling from Momein to Munipore,
/ spent a week with these people,
and as the space at my command is
very limited shall give but a brief
account of them. Crossing the IRA
wadee River, fifteen miles north of
Tshembo, situated in lat. 25, Ion.
"a, our cattle were so exhausted
from their long and continuous
march that a heightened halt became
necessary. Our guides, some NUM-
poories returning to their own coun-
try, said, "Sahib, these hairy peo-
pie live not very far from this, and
if you would like to visit them we
will show the way" most will
ingly assented, as was most anxious
to see them, as l had already made
the acquaintance of their distant re-
lative, "Maphoo," at Ava. Follow
ing the valley in northerly direction,
for a couple of days of eighteen
hours each, we branched off to the
northeast, and early on the third
day arrived at an extensive plateau,
densely covered with magnificent
forest trees. We heard peculiar
noises, somewhat resembling the
coo-ee-ing of the Australian savages,
which we were told were made by
the people we were in quest of; but
rs not house or any living thing
was visible, and there was much
whispering, smiling, and laughter
amongst our followers, l thought
they were playing on us some practi-
cal joke, and that the cries emanated
either from monkeys or apes. Get
ting annoyed, l told them l had not
come all this way to see apes, and
if they had nothing better to show
we had better go back. The men,
after a hearty laugh at our per-
pleXity, coo-ee-ed back, and, in
about quarter of an hour, we were
surrounded by about twenty men
and thirty women. To describe
these people is almost impossible.
The tallest male did not exceed five
feet i'll height, the women being Il
few inches shorter. They were well
made, broad-shouldered, sturdy
looking fellows, somewhat dark in
compleXion-that is, as much of 1T
as could be seen, for they were
covered everywhere with long, fluffy,
light-coloured hair, with the sole
exception of the natural growth on
the head, which was pitch black and
most luxuriant, that of both sexes
reaching considerably below their
waists. Not an atom of their faces
or their bodies was free from
growth of downy, fluffy, hair, which
grew to q length of several inches.
EVEN the eyelids were covered to
such an extent that, to enable them
to see, they had to push it aside.
They much resembled Skye or
Maltese terriers in face. The
women We're as hairy as the men,
with the sole exception of their
bosoms, which were quite bare.
Many of the younger girls were
almost comely. Two or three of our
men could either speak their
language or make themselves under
stood by means Of some mixed
dialect. The pigmies were much
amused at the astonishment depicted
on our countenances. We asked
them how far it was to their village.
AT this there were peals of laughter,
and man going up to the nearest tree
climbed up it rapidly, hand over
baud, holding on by the creepers
which cnveloped the trunk, to
height of some fifty feet, than point
ing to row of pegs, which at that
distance were all but invisible, he
went up them until he reached the
first lateral branch, and then dis
appeared. These trees, many of
them of the wood oil species, grow
to n great height, the trunks being
often thirty feet in circumference
and growing upright without a
branch for one hundred OF more
feet. They grow close together,
their branches INTERVIEWING. The
pigmy pushed aside the leaves and
smaller branches, disclosing rude
or platforms on which these
people live. They further aid
towards their invisibility by planting