New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-09-20
THE DWARFs OF THE ATLAS.
THEIR POSSIBLE RELATION TO THE
MYsTICS OF ANCIENT GREECE.

Central Africa has Dcen renewed ny NE. ~ "
Halliburton in the paper read by him TINS wees
before the Congress of Orentalists. Mr.. Han
burton is q recognized authority on this Interest
ing phase Of chronological science. paper pre-
nared bv him and read at the British Association
meeting three years ago first made known TO the
world the amazing fact of the existence of race
Of dwarfs under four feet high in the Atlos Noun
tains. only few hundred miles from the Medi-
terranean The existence of these dwarfs has
been kept O profound secret by the Moors, who
regard them with mysterious awe Mr.. Halibur'
TON tried hard for some years TO get some infor-
nation through various agents; but failing In
that he went TO Africa last fall and spent seven
months in personal investigation. During that
period he managed to collect very conclusive evil
dence both from natives and from Europeans who
resided in that country Every dwarf, 1t ap-
reared is called Sid Borraker ("Our Blessed
Iordg and is looked on as great saint and
very holy man. The mystery that has so long
been kept up about them is apparently vestlge
of an ancient worship OF them, as
Guardians and protectors, brngers oil
good luck Mr. Halliburton was told, early IN
1883. by his Susi servant that these dwarfs
ore to be found In Aka. district south OF
Morocco. bounding southerly on the Sahara. lie
described them as being about four feet hlgh'
possessing wonderful agility, and In color ike
tbe Red Indians of America Two months after
that his story was confirmed by Mr.. Haliburtons
reading that a reddish complexion [" resembling
the color Of slightly roasted coffee ana great
agility are distinguishing marks OF the dwarf
Alllzas of the district Of Aka, near the Albert
Nyanza, who are also about four feet high, Dut
are savages. In Equatorial Africa 1T has oeen
observed with interest that the larger races near
HI a. IN nn1n Tn no IRA
Valley. south of Mount Atlas, tie dwarfs are
called the Little Haratno The Larger
Haratin" were known to the ancients as tho
Melano Gaetuli or the Darae, and have either a
reddish black complexion from intermarriages
between the dwarfs and a negritian race or
vcllowish color from o cross between the dwarfs
and light colored tribes. The larger Haratin
are generally about five feet high, though many
tall men among them are to be found. In suS,
which lies between the ocean and Dara, and
Aka the dwarfs are called Aglimen, and their
offshoots are rather small race with light red
complexion, tribe of acrobats called :" the tribe
Of our Lord Hamed the son of Moses with whom
the dwarfs perform in Southern Morocco, avoid
ing the coast towns where Europeans are These
acrobats from Morocco, who are smiths and
tnkers are, according to Bruysal Bey, represented
on the monuments of the Fourth Dynasty as
performing in Egypt.
"The dwarfs," says Mr.. Halliburton, are re-
garded and reverenced as very holy men, even
though it cannot be denied that they shave their
faces and are not supposed to love the Prophet as
much as they should. Some say that they are
Christians; others assert that they are idolaters
and worship Didoo Isiri.' Sometimes have had
little difficulty in getting the Moors to speak of
them, though they have exclaimed with sur
l.. ,la,k
them? But superstitious natives. and especially
the IIaratin living near TOmanart in the Ora
Valley have often cut short the conversation
on my pressing them TO tell me TO the numbers
and place Of residence Of the dwarfs, etc One
said 1t is O sin to speak about them to you.
l shall say nothing Others say God has sent
them to US. We must not talk about them
young Jew now living in Manchester, but a
native Of AIOgadOr, said that the Moors worshpped
these Baral1ers, and would not talk freely about
them to the Jews. He had tried to find out
about them, but without success. He had con-
stantly when o boy, seen an old Baraker who
died at Mogador about eight or ten years ago.
and who was looked upon as q great saint, and
as such was kissed on the shoulders by the MOors
as they passed him in the street These dwarfs
are supposed to bring good luck TO the towns
where they reside, and are guardians and pro-
tectors, resembling in this respect the Palladium
Of the Trojans. If strangers were 70 succeed in
carrying them out of the country, gaOd luck
would depart with them. 1t Is probable that
some such superstitous belief was at the bottom
Of the difficulty which puzzled and bafled
Schweinfurth in his attempt to get a sight of the
dwarf Akllas of the DIonbutto country, the King
of which sent away by night his regiment Of
dwarfs. so as to keep them out of the way Of
his visitor. The dwarfs of Mount Atlas are
called Patik CancestorsD, Patti or Pata meaning
father, II is not unlikely that they may be
the little dwarfs whose grotesque images were
called by the same. name -Pataeki-and the
Caberic worship Of which may have been an
importation from the Phoenician colonies south
of Mount Atlas"
An interesting letter was received few weeks
ago by Mr. Halliburton from Mr.. HunOt, the
British Consul at Safli, in which the writer says:
81 recollect the dwarf you allude TO as living
and dying at Mogador, and think there is one
also here at Safi. The mOgador man was about
the size Of boy of ten or eleven years OF age.
| saw some Arab gypsies the other day-fortune-
tellers; two or three of them were handsome
looking young women of about eighteen nine
teen They were from the tribe Of Ouad Blu
Sebah CSons Of the Father of Lions0. / know
from experience that there are hundreds of names
Of places in the Atlas Mountains which we have
never heard Of There are local names quite
unknown TO the natives living in adjacent dis.
tricts to those named. | hear from some Of the
natives that you must have got hold Of valuable
old chronicles belonging TO the races of Europeans
or Romi that they know occupied their
country. What they all want to know is where
are the treasures and springs Of water hidden by
those races, who are believed TO have had the
power of the genii of that epoch?"
One of the dwarf acrobats told Mr. Halliburton
an amusing story of an Improbable performance
Of his troupe near village of Daggata QBlacl
jews not far from TimbuctoO. The acrobats
were surprised at nobody coming to see their per.
Torrance. But they were still more surprised
when they discovered that the whole population
of the place had run away, believing that the
,ul,n