The state herald., 1890-07-04
DWARFs OF ARtJWIM1.
SANKEY'S Description Of the Pigmies IL
the Forest. Of 9,ntral Afr.cl
These R,markasl. lilipusions are From
Taro, to -Four Fee. High-rh,y ara Po,-
ro,ssd Of Much Natural Intelliy sas, a1d
Knsw tn. Misteriss Of woodcraft:


Knaw tn, Mistsris, Of woodcrafs:
From the chlmpanzees, balloons and
monkeys with which the forest
abounds, is but n step. according to
Darwinism, to the pigmy tribes whom
we found inhabiting the tract OF coun-
try between 1huru mud lturi rivers,
says Stanley in an address reported In
the London Times. They were known
TO exist by the father OF poets nine
centuries before the beginning OF the
Christian era. You may remember
Homer wrote about the sanguinary
baltic that wits reported to have taken
place between the pigmies and tho
storks. In the NTH century before
Christ Herodo,us described the cap
ture OF five young explorers from Mas
samoves while they wore examining
some curious trees in tho Niger basin.
md how tho little men took them TO
their villages and showed them about
to thoir fellow-pigmies, much as you
would like us 10 show tho plgmies
about England.
Near place called Avetilso. on the
lturi river, OUR hungry men found the
first male and fcmaie Of the pigmies
sIuatted in the midst Of wild Eden,
peeling plantains. You can imagine
what shock it was to the poor little
creatures ut finding themselves sud-
denly surrounded by gigantic Soudan-
csc, 6 feet 4 inches In height. nearly
double their own heigh. and weight.
and blaelt MS coal But MY u ,nzibnris.
always moro tender-hearted than Sou
danose, prevented the clubbel rifle and
cutlasses from extisguisbing their live,
there and then, and brought them Is
me as prizes Id the same spirit rs they
would have brought big hawk, moth
or mammoth longicorn for inspection.
As they stood trembling before mo |
named the little man Adam and the
miniature woman Evs-far more mp
proprin,c names In tho wild Eden on
lturi than the NulsuSuru and Akios wa
I
them and thought how these repre-
scented tho oldest people on the globe.
my admiration would haye gone 10
Greater lengths than soothing cynics
would have expected.
Tho height OF the man was feet;
that OF tho woman n little loss. lie
may have weighed about s. pounds;
tho color OF tho body was that OF u
half-bakcd brick. and light brown
foil stood out very clearly. So far rs
natural intelligence was concerned.
within his liuiitdi experience. no was
certainly superior to any black man In
our camp. The mysteries Of wood.
craft, for jnstaace. be knew better
tlian any OF US; he know what wild
fruits were who.cio1ie. and what lung
were poisonous. II, could have given
us valuable lessons how to find our
way through the forest I saw also
that he could adapt himself to circum-
5sances. II the pot was to cad him, II
very little shrinking only would be;ray
his fear OF pain II he wcre TO b,
treated additionally. mono could DO
30 ready to appreciate affection and
kindn rss
Wa tcgah ID question him Ny ges-
lures ''Do you know where We car
get bananns?n lie catches tho cue, h,
grasps his leg to show us the size. and
mods his head rapidly. informing us
that he knows where 10 frd bannu rs
NJ tic s!zo OF his leg. One see, that
he can exaggcrate us well ms Mark
Twain. Laugh,er.l We point u the
four quarters OF the compass. question
ingly. lilo points TO the sunrise in re-
| ply. "ls IL far?' Ile shows II hands
length. All n good days joarno;
withou. loads, two days with loadsl
"Do you know the lhuru?' lie mods
his heal rapidly. ''liow far Is i,?"
lie rests his right haad sideways Oh
his elbow joint "Oh. four days jour
ney," as there much food on tho
road'" He pats his abdomen loving
ly with m artftl smile and brings his
Two hands to II point In front OF him.
paunchcs will become like pros trat,
pyramids
l suppose wo must have passed
through as many II, 100 villages in
hahiscd bY the pl mics. Long, how
ever before we reached them they