Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1889-03-10
TYPES OF PREHisroRIC MAN.
Tribes or C&ve-Dwsisers ana Sake
DweIIers sttlf in Existence.

AnthropolOg1sts are unuinS mere anu
there peoples that seem to reproduce
almost exactly the cave-rnen and lake.
dwellers OF prehistoric times, whose re-
mains have caused so much discussion.
The tribes which are thought to have
best preserved the phases OF life that be-
lonped 10 primitive man particularly in
terest all students Of mankind, and the
opportunities for observing them are
constantly increasing.
When Colonel Grant was descending
the Nile from Victoria Nyanza, a native,
who had travelled far, told him that
hundreds OF miles southwest Of the
lake, in Katanga, the great copper coun-
try. he bad seen caves so high that
from camel's back he could not have
touched their roofs with a spear. One
of them, he said, was 400 yards wide,
and he penetrated it from sunrise till
noon, emerging at last on the other side
of the mountain. No credence was given
this story until Mr.. Arnot. who returned
from the Katanga country awhile ago,
said that he mad seen these caves and
the people who inhabit them. 1t is to be
regretted that bis work in other direc-
tions prevented him from thoroughly
studying these remarkable Sombwe
caves and their tenants, but he promises
upon his return next spring TO make
them the object of careful research.
The mountain range where these caves
are found is about 400 miles northwest
OF Lake Bangweolo. On the precipitous
south face of these mountains Arnot saw,
at distance, holes here and there, dotted
like rabbit wsrrens over the front OF the
range. These are the entrances to the
caves, and Arnot was astonished by their
large number. One cave, ne says, has
two entrances. the distance between the
openings being five miles. In some
caves there are streams Of running water.
The walls have the appearance OF pun
leo stone, and limestone strata were also
found. In the caves and around their
mouths live thousands OF natives. They
till their millet fields in front OF their
subterranean homes, and store their
food in them. The explorer found them
a wild bat peace-loving people.
Living in the heart of the great coun-
try ruled by Msidi. the most powerful
potentate west of the great lakes since
the decline OF the Muata Yanvo, they
are the only people from whom nc has
been unable to extort tribute. They Will
not fight unless they are brought to bay,
but upon the approach of an enemy they
retire to their caves, where they can live
for months, as no one dares to follow
them into the recesses OF these vast and
intricate passages. Arnot won their
hearts by killing two hippopotami and
twenty aHtelopes and inviting them to
feast. He gave $50 of them all they
could eat for seven days, and when his
guests left him they took to their caves
all the meat they could carry. He hopes
to spend long time with them when he
returns in few months to GarenganZe.
Nowhere in Africa have the cave
dvellers been adequately studied. The
information concerning them that will
vet be obtained will be among the most
interesting results OF future exploration.
Joseph Thomson was able TO stay only
day or two among the large number OF
caves at the base OF Mt. Elgon, north
east of Victoria Nyanza, which he found
occupied by whole tribes. These are
artificial caves, cut into the compact vol
canic rock, and so large that not only
the natives but their herds OF cattle are
sheltered in them. They were excavated
perhaps centuries ago, and their present
occupants have no traditions as to their
origin. The imperfectly known Bush
men. the dwaris OF the kalabari waste
in South Africa, find their favorite abode
in natural caves and under the shelter OF
lodges of over hanging rocks. ..,., .a..3
IL WAS not known until recently how
great is the number of people whose
homes find their prototype in the lake
dwellings of prehistoric times. For
hundreds of miles along the south and
east coasts OF New Guinea, in meny
sheltered inlet and bay, are large VII
lagos, numbering sometimes a hundred
huts or more, built on piles in the water
and accessible from the shore only by
canoes. Thus like prehistoric man they
guard their bones against cudden sur
prise. Cameron introduced us to
picturesque Lake Mohrya in Cen
trail Africa and the large collection OF
huts raised high on stills above its placid
surface. The tenants of these lake
dwellings till their fields on shore, re-
firing when night comes or danger
threatens to the security Of their lake
huts. Young discovered hundreds of
natives living in the edge OF the great
Lake Nyassa, and reproducing phases OF
life that are thought to be identical with
those OF the ancient Swiss lake-dwellers.
But not until long after these discOye-
ries were made was it known that pro-
badly hundreds of thousands of African
moor canoes under their huts and reach
the rude floor above by means OF lad
ders.
Along many of the Congo southern
and northern Zambesi tributaries these
villages built on piles are seen by scores.
Not few tribes build their houses on
marshy and overfiowed land to render
their villages difficult D approach.
Many other tribes, particularly along
the Congo tributaries, inhabit lands that
are subject to periodical limitations.
and they sensibly raise their gable-roofed
cabins several feet above high-water
mark 70 keep out OF the wet.
An explorer on the Bussera river re-
Gently found some strange photographic
notions prevailing among the inhabi-
tants. A tribe which received him in
friendly spirit when he assembled the
river greeted him with arrows upon his
return. They told him that high water
had come very unseasonably since they
last saw him, and he was undoubtedly
the cause of it and though he in-
vited attention to the fact that it had
been raining necessarily, nothing could
alter their conviction that he had added
several feet to the average level OF their
river. 4.
Girls with Queer Tastes.
Girls in Biddeford and Saco, Me-,
seem 10 have some olleer tastes. One