Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1892-09-23
AFRICAN LILLIPUTS.
Queer Tribes of Dwarfs Not
Larger Than Our Boys OF
Twelve Years.
Are Thought to be the Missing
links Between Two Human
BrOtherhOOds.
Many Facts Relating to Their
Origin and History, and Man
ner Of Living.

in the hands OF the IaEluSueSt, tiI>-
tinglishrd himself for two discoveries
over 800 years ago lie was kept Tor
years in the convict colony Of Angola
on the west coast Of Africa. and had a!
opportunity while living there to travel
much in Angola and the adjoining re-
cions. He was the first to make known
the existence Of the gorilla, the most
remarkable among African animals;
and he was also the first to announce
in comparatively recent times the eX-
istencc Of dWarfs little people called
matimba. who are not bigger than boys
ut II years" There is no doubt that no
discovered the ancestors Of the ObOngo
dWarfs whom On Chaillu brought t.
light again in 1861 and it is interest
ing to note that the world, determined
moi to accept dWarfS as IN anthrOpOlOg
icaI fact rejected BattclfS discovery i'll
the Scycntccth century, just as is more
tlan half rejected Du Chaillu's in tn"
nineteenth. This is one instance anon"
many Of important discoveries in
Africa discarded by the early gco@raph-
crs; and not 4 few recent explorations
facts that were well known 300 and 3Oo
years ago. AMI thai they W"r" later
cyp.ngrd from the maps on flini&y pre-
texts by men who did not know rs
mllct :is They thought they did
Forty years ago no one supposed Thar
tribes Of dWarfS existed in Africa To
day authorities like Schlichtcr. FcIE;n
~ IGr fiI.IFI In I,a
ancient writer's were dealing with fact
ard not fahle when they WrDte Of the
dwarf Of central Africa, but also thai
the world derived important geo
graphical facts from thcS" dWarfS
They believe, with Captain Stairs, th9t
dWarfs found their way in ancient
times into Egypt, and that they doubt
less gave ~nnr Information about the
Mountains Of the Moon" AMI tn
sources Of The Nile. The theory that
dWarfs from the upper Nile regions ill
reach Egypt is fortified in Il striking
manner by the recent discovery on IN
old E"yptiln monument Of the picture
Of il dwarf with tho name .tkka bcSidd
it. which is the nam" of the most fam
OTIS If The central African dwarf tribes;
but later centuries had no faith il
dwarf tribes, ana the testimony of NOR"
than ono recent diScoycrrr was needed
before the interesting subject attracted
much attention. Some fifteen cXpIol-
crs have within the past few years
added facts to our knowledge of the
dW0rfS, and though orr acquaintance
With them il still incomplete. enough
facts have been obtained 10 enable uIs
to take general view Of these curion&
litt!" people
On" group Of these pigmirS. the
Doilos. Eay" moi yet been visited Nv
arr explorer. and vet il is certain that
They lnhahit, Approximately the region
assigned TO them on our map. south Of
AbySsiuia. It is hoped that before long
some explorer will visit them in their
home AMI tell IFS more about them.
AvaneherS. krapf and D'Abhadic. Ill
travellers Of authority have met many
Of them and independently of one
another have borne testimony to thcir
cSistcncn. They were described hv
these rlen rs having the same charle-
tcrlSticS that mark the equatorial
ilWarfS who We're not known for wear;
after the DolloS had excited the cur
iooity Of cthnologiStS Professor Hart
man in 1876 collected on the east coast
reliable reports about the DolloS, con
llrmlng tn" earlier reports. The D0koS
are said to be dark brown in color.
extremely ugly in physique and about
four feet high They 80 entirely with
out clothing. and build most primitive
nuts. which they cover with skins or
leaves Their only occupation is hunt
inc. They change their quarters as
soon rs game becomes scarce. use only
poisoned arrows and are expert in
catching animals in traps and pitfalls
They do not know the use of fire. and
cat tho flesh Of ScrpcntS and other ami
mails raw. DR.. Henry Schlichtcr who
has collatCd Ill the evidence ut hand
relating To- these perfect SayagcS. SAYS
that, although their country has never
been visited, it can safely he said that
east OF the Nile and to the south uf
l\atfa. III the uncNplored territories ~
the south of the river ONO. there exists
4 pigmy race similar in size. appearoncn
and habits to the dwarfS of tho 1nnnr
Nile and Congo regions" 1t is prob
able that they are scattered among
other tribes Of different race ana Gus
toms. like their relatives i'll west and
central Africa.
1t is now possible to divide the
dwarfS Of Africa into four groupS-thn
pignieS of west Africa. known rs the
Ohongo. Akoa and Babongo. who We're
fllSt met in the recent times by Du
1hafllu: the dwarfS Of the central re-
glons. known rs the Aka. Wambutti
and Ratua, discovered and described
hy Grcnfell. Won Francois. LEM. Wolf.
NlSSmann and others: the east African
nSlnleS. known rs the DokoS though
they probably compose several tribes
speaking different dialects: and tie
dwarfS south of the Congo basin. VIII,
are the huShmen and their relatives IF
south Africa. Some time ago Mr.. Hail.
burton reported the discovery of dwarfS
among the Atlas mountains of Morocco
but the reports about these alleged
pigmies are not yet sufficiently authen-
ticated TO be accepted as fact.
Among all these widely separate.l
dwarf tribes exist resemblances :,
striking that these little peoples are
now believed to be branches of tha
same great family that by one cause
or another was separated. perhaps
centuries ago, until to-day its parts are
divided by hundreds of miles of terri