The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1890-06-03
L|LL|PuTs IN AFRICA.
Little People Discovered by Mr..
Stanley on His Last
Expedition.
Incidental Reference to the Lon
gevity Of the Forest and
Air Kings.
,,;.;.+rre Adam and Eve in a Black Con-
tinent Eden--Like unto Mark 1waln--
Sign Language.

The longevity of the animal creation
<,,,a IN the rivers and shades of these
acea woods is something worth glanclng at'
cold Mr.. Stanley in his London speech. The
elephant and hippopotamus ana me croco-
ala NAV boast of their 400 years OF life, the
.or+o;sa a century, the buffalo fifty years,
Az orows eagles. ibis and touracos nearly
oo,.prv the parrot, the heron and hamln-
90 sixty years. .
From the chimpanzees, balloons and mon
KEYS, with which the forest apounos, Is Dut
n step. according to Darwlnlsm, TO the
nvpmy tribes whom we tound lnhaoltlng
the tract of country between the lhuru and
Jtnri rivers. They were known to exist by
the father of poets nine centuries before
the beginning of the Christian era. You
NAV remember Homer wrote about
fire sanauinary battle that was re
ported to have, taken pace c 1n zen
fftb century before Christ Herodotus de-
scr;hed the capture of five young explorers
from Nassamovcs while they we're e1am!n-
ing some curious trees in the Niger basin,
md how the little men took them 10 tneif
VILLAGES and showed them about to thelr
to show the pygmies about England. The
Cnoorapher Hekatnus, in the fifth century,
located the pygmies near the equator OF |
Africa. under the shadows OF the Mountains
of the Moon. and 1 find that from Hlppaf-
chus downward geographers have faith
fnlIv followed the example of Hekatseus,
md nearly year ago We found them where
they had been located 10y tradition under
the names of Watwa and Wambutti. The
forest which we have been just considering
extends right up to the base-llne OF the
Mountains of the Moon.
We were Just now paying due reverence
to the kings of the forest who were born
before the foundations of the tower on Shi-
mar plain weEe laid, and because 1t seemed
to us that in their life they united pre-his-
toric times to this society journal loving
nineteenth century. Let us pause little and
nav honor to those little people who have
outlived the proud Pharaohs Of Egypt, the
chosen people of Palestine. and the emper-
ors Of Babylon, Ninevah, Persia and the
Macedonian and Roman empires. They
have actually been able to hold the lands
for over fifty centuries. have lately seen
the wear and tear on the pyramids of
Egypt and I can certify that the old sphinx
- t1resetlts very battered appearance indeed,
but the pygmies appeared to me as bright,
as fresh and as young as the generation
which Homer sang about
You will therefore understand that l, who
:. have always professed to love humanity in
preference to beetles loud laughter, was
A much interested in these small creatures
as Henry Irving might be in the personne
Of the Lyceum. Near place called Avet
iko, on the lturi river, our hungry me1
found the first male and female of the pyg
mics squatted in the midst of a wild Elder
peeling plantains. You can imagine wha
H*ssh Dhnek it was to the poor little creature
at finding themselves suddenly surrounde'
by gigantic Soudanese SIX feet two lnche
o~1,, NJ II %hnrN hnIf Il,
and weight, and black as coal. But m.
Zanzibaris, always mere tender-heartet
than Soudanese. prevented the clubbe'
rifle and cutlasses from extinguishing thei
lives there and then, and brought them t.
me as prizes in the same spirit as the
or mammoth longicorn for inspec
before me l. named a the ' little man Aasl
and the miniature woman Eve, far more AZ
propriate names in the wild Eden on til
1turi than the Vukukuru and Akiokw
and thought how these represented the ole
est people on the globe, my admiratio
would have gone to greater lengths tina
scoffing cynics would have expected. POI
Greekish heroes and Jewish patriarchs, no
their glory paled before the ancient ance
try of these manikins! Had Adam know
how to assume tragic pose, how fifty |
might have said: "Yea. you may we'll loo
on us, for we are the only people living G
the face of the earth who from primev
time have never been removed from the
homes. Before Yusuf and Mesu were ev,
heard of we lived in these wild shades. fro
the Nile fountains to the Sea of Darkness
and, like the giants OF the forest we despi
time and fate"
But, poor little things, they said nothir
of the kind. They did not know they wei
heirs of such proud and unequaled her
IN In On
clearly enough, as they furtiyely locke
at one and another of us, ''Where ha'
these big people come from? Will tht
eat us!" There were some nervo,
witches about the angles of the nose AZ
quick upliftings of the eyelids, and swift
store for them. 1t is not 4 comfortab
feeling which possesses Il victim in Il
presence of possible butcher and a pc
slble consumer of its flesh. That mise
was evident in the little Adam and u
of the African Eden. The height of Il
man was feet. that of the woman lit
less, He may have weighed about
pounds: the color of the body wars that OF
half-baked brick, and light brown II
stood out very clearly. So far as natur
Intelligence was concerned, within l
limited experience, he was certain
superior to any black man in our cam
The mysteries of woodcraft. for instano
he knew better than any of US, he KIN,
what wild fruits We're wholesome. end VIII
fungi were poisonous. He could have Civ
us valuable lessons how to find our W
through the forest. I saw also that he cou
adapt himself to circumstances. If the +
was TO end him, very little shrinking or
would betray his fear of pain; if he were
be treated affectionately. none could be
ready to appreciate affection and kindne
We began to question him by gestu
DO you know where We can get bananas
He catches the cue, he grasps his leg to sh
us the size and mods his head rapidly,
forming us that he knows where to Fl
bananas of the size of his leg. One sees Il
ne can exaggerate as we'll as Mark iva
daughter. We point to the four quart
Of the compass questioningly. rs it fa
He shows a hands length. He poi
to the sunrise in reply. All. good ds
journey without loads, two days with los
do you know the Ihura?'' He mods
head rapidly. slow far is it?' He +,
his head sideways on the elbow joint, :"
four days journey Is there much
on the road?' He pats his abdomen
ingly with an artful smile and brings
two hands to point in front of him, fl
which we may infer that our paunches
become like Frustrated pyramids. We
him why Avellko has SO little food.
little man ATTEMPTS To imitate the SOnn(