The World. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1891-1896, 1892-10-03
QUEER AFRICAN DWARRS,
CURIOUS LITTLE PEOPLE FOUND m
THE DARK CONTINENT.


Numerous Liiiipa,iAn Tribes and
where They Livs-sonss Fanny Lit
tIe Pigmfes and Thsir Hsbiss--Dokes
Of East Africa.
tribes Of dwnrfs existed in Africa. To-
day authorities like 6chlichter, Felkin
and others affirm not only that the an
Gent writer's were dealing with fact and
not fable when they wrote of the dwarf
OF central Africa, but also that the world
derived important geographical facts from
these dwarfs. They believe, with Capt.
Stairs, that dwarfs found their way In
ancient times into Egypt, and that they
doubtless gave some information about
the /" Mountains Of the Moon and the
sources Of the Nile.
One group Of these pigmies, the Dokos,
have not yet been visited by any explorer,
and yet IL IL certain that they inhabit, ap-
proximately, the region assigned 10 them
on our map, south OF Abyssinia. It Ii
hoped that before long some explorer will
visit them In their home and tell us more
about them. Avanchers, Krapf and
D'Abbadie, all travellers OF authority,
have met many Of them and Independently
of one another have borne testimony to
their existence. They were described by
these men as having the same character
istics that mark the equatorial dwarfs
who were not known for years after the
Dokos had excited the curiosity of eth
biologists. Professor Hartman in 1879
collected on the east coast reliable reports
about the Dokos, confirming the earlier
reports. The Dokos are said to be dark
brown in color, extremely ugly in ply
sigue, and about four feet high. They 60
entirely without clothing, and build most
primitive huts, which they cover with
skins or leaves. Their only occupation is
hunting. They change their quarters as
soon as game becomes scarce, use only
poisoned arrows and are expert in catch
ing animals in traps and pitfalls. They
do not know the use Of IRE, and eat the
flesh OF serpents and other animals raw.
1t is now possible to divide the dwarfs
ofAirica into four groups-the pigmies
of west Africa known rs the Obongo,
Akoa and Babongo, who were first met in
recent times by Du Chaillu; the dwarfs
Of the central regions, known as the
Aka, Wambutti and Batua, discovered
and described by Grenfell, Won Francois,
Lenz, Wolf, Wissmann and others; the
east African pigmies, known as the
Dokos, though they probably compose
several tribes speaking different dialects;
and the dwaris south Of the Congo basin,
who are the bushmen and their relatives
OF South Africa. Some time ago Mr..
Halliburton reported the discovery OF
dwarfs among the Atlas mountains Of
Morocco, but the reports about these al
legged pigmies are not yet sufficiently
authenticated to be accepted a. fact
| Among all these widely separated
dwarf tribes exist resemblances 30 strik-
ing that these little peoples are now be-
lieved to be branches OF the 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 territoryin which no dwarfs
are found They are all migratory, never
remaining long in one place, though they
do not often wander far out of their own
district.
The dwarfs of the central regions, the
Aka, Wambutti, Tikki- Tiki and Batua,
form the most important group OF Afri-
can pigmies. They are all warlike, and
few of the tribes around them have given
explorers so much trouble as the little
folks who have logged their caravans,
skulking in the forest or jungle where
they can hardly be seen, climbing trees
and swinging themselves out on the
limbs with the agility Of monkeys, and
from this vantage place showering down
poisoned arrows on the enemy below.
Explorers tell OF the Batua swinging from
branch to branch as trapeze performers
take flight from one bar to another.
Grenfell and Won Francois were as
founded to see the Batua scramble out on
boughs oyerhanging the rivers until the
| linn ha hou L..
These Batua tribes extend over the whole
southern part OF the Congo basin, and
doubtless much additional information
about them will be brought home by flu
ture explorers.
Serpa Pinto describes the dwarfs he
met in the AmbuelIa country as the most
complete savages he ever met. They are
regarded as the connecting link between
the dwarf bushmen further south and the |
more northern dwarf tribes. Living in
the forests between the Cubando and the
Cuando rivers they speak language of
their own which is unintelligible to other
surrounding tribes, know nothing Of
agriculture, have only bows and arrows
as weapons, erect no dwellings, but live
In eneampments where branches of trees,
bent downward and interlaced in front
constitute their only shelter.
1t is now very generally believed that
allthese dwarf tribes are the remnant of
the original population of Africa who,
many centuries ago, were decimated and
widely scattered by the intrusion OF /
stronger people. While there is no direct
evidence proving this hypothesis, there
are circumstances that give it much
strength, and among them is the improb-
ability that the various scattered pfgmy
tribes could have immigrated into terri
tories already occupied by the Bantu,
Nuba and Hottentot races. Chicago Her
aid,