Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1893-05-08
No. iO9

wooden pegs. The teeth are vsrv s.,s,,,
hlsd. The dress OF the women h. ss -
siole, even simpler than that of tbe ,ss-,
1t consists Of q cord round the losns ~
which fresh leaves are hung: these are
fetched every morning from the wood.
The men generally shave away their hair.
except q narrow strip above the right ear.
They are very dirty and have an aversion
TO water; while the negroes are very clean
ignore 80. indeed, than the average En-
roPesn. When they sleep they draw IN
their knees, and lay one hand under DE
head. They keep up their fires continual
ly; they seem unable 10 obtain FIRE by rub
bing sticks together, and, therefore, when
they change their Q aArters they take with
them torch, which they carefully keep
glowing Their weapon is q small bow
with string of rattan. Their Arrows are
carried In q sack Of raw leather, which
they hang over one shoulder. They are
usually made Of wood only, bat some have
aesos OF iron, which they obtain BY bar
Nt nom the neighboring peoples. Their
poisoned Arrows are deeply notched below
, s neao, and often have bsrbs, 20 that an
mpt 10 draw out an arrow causes Ia TO
oreak on In the wound Instead of festh-
srs theF use q portion Of 8 leaf at the
hinder end Of the arrow The poison en-
ployed 10 OF q vegetable nature, and Is
greatly feared by the natives. IL II re-
mains some time In the wound II cEuses
death, and even IL IL ts quickly removed n
lie usually followed by a strong puruleut
discharge, which causes teianus. With
proper treatment, however, this poison is
by no means dangerous
From thsir exclusive use Of wood in
making their weapons, we may suppose
the pygnies to be still in their most prau-
itive age Of wood They have no dooes-
tic sntmsls except dogs. These are small.
OF the color Of yellow leather, sharp -nosed.
with upright triangular eGrs They aid in
hndtng the gAme. Whether The ppgnies
are eAnnibAls or not is at present an open
question They would seem, however, TO
be exempt from this practice, for at the
lturi we heard of their killing several peo-
pie and throwing their bodies into the r5v-
er. oar three pyguliss Eesm N 10 know Ab-
sol1teiy nothing about cEunibAlism. Their
language differs entirely from that of the
neighboriDg peoples; Ii has not yet been
possible 10 form vocabulary for them,
since, In replying TO questions, they usual
" employ the language Of their neigh
oors. Our two female pygmiss have
learned the Suaheli tongue, and it is only
when they think themselves quite unob-
served that they talk and sing together tn
their mother tongue. The negroes main
tanned that they twittered like birds, but
The tribes best acquainted with them know
thst they speak the language of their
nsighbors. Our three, 81 least, have been
brought up 10 speak tie wAmbuga Ian
susge. No one has succeeded Es vet even
In fixing the words which represent the
numbers in their native language: probA-
oly they are, Ike the Bnshmen, unable to
sount more than two, all the numbers
sbove two being called many They call
themselves Eve OF Baewe: by their neigh
oors they are called " srnbuti, An, Ango,
Aka, etc. TIE name Akks Is
said 70 occur On an ancient Egyptian mon
ament"