Mohave County miner., 1890-10-25
pYcMr RACES.
stanisy'. wsufbssti, the BottsDtots q
Busia men, AID t.weIy Britops.


Not the least interesting 6f tl's d.
coyeries made by Mr. Stanley on re
latest expedition, says the dsstfs1nans
Magazine. Is that Of the Wamoetti---
the dwarf tribe living between the
Uppsr Aruhwimi and the NepolSo. lt
has long been a well-known fact that
the Pygmles Of Homer. Herodotus and
Ktesias-tbose Of whom Plins speaks
as dwelling among the marshes
where the Nile risesh--are something
more than mere mythical beings; and
almost every exploration of any impor-
tanee undertaken Of late years has
thrown fresh light on the exist'nce oi
primitive African race. OF whom the
Nambetii are in all probability one 81
many fragments. scattered through
central snd southern Africa
The tribes usually designated dratfs
or pygmies are numerous, bearing q
marked resemblance 10 each other, and
showing marked difference from the
people RfnoBg whom they are scat
tered. Their surest and most perina-
nent characteristic Is their hair, which
is woolly. but instead Cf being. as in
the negro, evenly distributed over the
scalp, grows In small tufts. ibis
appearance. according TO Prod. Viz
chow. is not due to the fact that the
hair grows on some spots aud not ON
others, but to peculiarly In the text
ure OF the hair Itself, which causes II
to roll naturally toto closely curled,
spiral locks. leaving the intervening
pieces Of scalp bare.
The name Of dwarfs, applied BY
somc TO these people. has been objected
to as implying deformity or arrested
growth, and therefore conveying a
wrong impression. Nothing Of the
kind can be said Of the African Pyg-
mics. who. though Of short stature
are well shaped people Of perfect nor
NAL formation.
The section Of the Pygmy raee with
which Europeans have come most in
contact is the HotteBtots and Bush
men. The former call themselves
'khoi-Khoi," Hottentots being merely
| q nickname given by early Dutch set-
tiers, who declared that the natives
spoke an uniatelligible Language. com
sisting only Of sounds like hot and tot.
That keen observer, Mofati, ne long
| ago as the first decade Of this century.
noticed the distinct and peculiar char
acteristics Of the Hottentots. aud rec
ognized their racial identity with the
Bushmen.
Surveying the Pygmy race as q
whole. we find tbem--shorn OF the
mythical and magical glanior with
which distance and mystery had In
vested them-not so very different,
after all, from other human beings.
but still sufficiently Interesting. No
well authenticated adult seems TO be
much less than 4 feet inches; while
Dr.. Petermann thinks that the Pyg-
mics. on the whole, run about head
shorter than the average negro.
can not attempt 10 deal with the
origin Of the Pygmy race. or its rela-
tionship to the Andamese and the
Feddahs Of Ceylon, who are said TO
have some characteristics In common
with the Pygmies. But 1t seems clear
that they were once spread over q
great part. II not the whole. OF the
/ 1OANahthN1 AhAh Aufy eNlS SASANt - y AHN
partially exterminated by the advent
Of the stronger dark races; and that
a. a race, they are passing away. II
is interesting to look at an analogous
case in Europe. A race Of small stat
ure, light frame and comparatively
low type, scarcely. II at all, advanced
beyond the hunter stage. occupied the
British islands and the northwestern
part Of the continent. They were
partly massacred or enslayed, partly
driven into the mountains, by their
Kettle conquerors; and in the lorely
recesses Of the hills and woOds-what
with their weakness aud their strength.
their cunning and their skin in metals.
their music and their underground
dwellings, and their uncanny wisdom
a growth Of legend and poetry sprang
up about them, till they were no longer
known save as elves gnomes. strols OF
Good People whom one dared not
| mama,