Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1891-01-23
African plgmlcs.

In the legends Of ancient peoples,
whore myths which relate 10 beings OF
unnatural size aud form ~ often occur,
we flnd that stories concerning dwarfs
seem TO have been especially In favor.
The classic literature OF Greece makes
mention OF the plgmics, who were said
10 he only few inches high ani 10 lave
ia the depths OF Central Africa, where,
IN mysterious solitude and silence, the
\ lie takes its rise. We are IA rthrr told
that these diminutive men make war
every spring on birds Of large size, and
In Homer's Had we find u full jescrip-
ton OF the battle between the pigmies
and the cranes.
Strabo, who Il much Of n slseptic and
knew how prone TO cxaggeratc were
traveller In the recital Of their advent.
ures In foreign lands, throws discrcdit
on the story, and In one Of his bool.s
bluntly states that "all who wrote
about India were the biggest lisr-."
A aristotle aud pliny, ON the other hand,
believed that "a dwarf race who were
/ trogloditcs, or cave jewellers, had their
existence ia Africa. HerOdotur, more
accurate aud scientific, alluded 10 the
/ dwarfs In his books. lie relates that
| Ave men belonging 10 the triboQf Nay
amonen, In Lydia, undertook voyage
across the Great Desert and came 10
the banks OF broad river running
from east Ia west aud full OF crocodlles,
where they found Inhabitants who
were all below the medium height.
| When the Gothic night descended
over Europe little or no progress was
made IN geography and ethnography.
Not until 1881 do We ilnd the record
of "a tribe " small men called klmos,
who are said 10 inhabit Madagascar
perhaps the same a. those now known
as tho Nazlmba, who dwell In the
mountainous districts Of that Island.
Coming 10 more recent times, We
fluJ, In 1890, u statement 10 III. effect
that dwarf people, the Berikomo,
were " be- found living ~ the north oi
the lofty, snOwcnpped kehla noun.
tain. In 1910 Or. Kmpf, the mis-.
sinnafy, describes dwariish race. the
D0ko, who live on the Upper duh
river, 10 the south Of the katih proviRce,
and that south Of Bagirmi the natives
allude 10 dlminullve tribe called the
Mala. ailage, who are moreover ggnced
with n caudal appcndage. All these
facts, however, are ~ doubtful nccura.
cy, aud, M regards the lastnam,d PEG.
pie, the Information seems 10 have
been derived from no better source than
slaves aud traders Of the Interior
The flrst bit u positive data respect
ing the so-called dwarf peoples VI East
.rn Africa was furnished by the we'll
known German explorer Professor
3clIwelnfurlh. At the residence oi
Munsa, the Monbattu King, ho
found some individual samples OF the
Akka OF rikki-rikh tribe, men Oi
small stature, whU lived ~ hunters In
the bush, aud some OF whom King
Munsa kept as n curiosity nj his court
SOME time after the Austrian traveller,
Marno, aud Captain Long, the tng
lish explorer, who accompanied him
discovered Ia. same Aka people
Traces Of this dwarilsh race were alst
found ut BataltO. on the western consl
0f Africa. koelle, the missionary, wht
lived at Sierra Leone, aud often mad,
trlps Into the interior, heafu " uwafh
living In n country further lnlaht
, called l.unin, where those tubes az,
called krnkob or Bczsan.
/ There are also on tho Loango c0asl
native tribes Of men who, although O
small stature, are good elephant hunt
ers. They are called the Mimos ol
Bakkn- Bnkka Besides these, on the
Settle River, are the Matimbs Of Dongn
who belong 10 the sanle race. Nor
detailed information concerning thts'
tribes was furnished by Du thalllu
tile famous explorer aud gorilla hunter
, who In the vast forests Of W.sltfl
Africa discovered tile Ahongc dwarf
on the OgOwee River In Ashira c0uu
try. | myself visited those regions II
1873 aud met with this dwarf race OF
the Upper Ogowec.
Al about the same tune Stanley dis