The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-03-19
MORE slMIAN THAN HUMAN.
The Pygmy veddahs of CeyIon Believed to
Supply the Missing Link.

supply tAC hAAooih& Alhks
The discovery of the missing link, says
a German magazine, has been made known
by two Swiss scientists, brothers, who
declare that the Veddahs of Ceylon fill
the void between man and ape. Ths
brothers have spent several years in Cey-
Ion in order to study this little known but
interesting race of pygmies, and, quite
apart from the theory which they put for
ward, the facts which they publish con-
corning the Veddahs are of sufficient inter
est to command general attention.
The Veddahs are quite DISTINCT race
and are more like apes than any other hui
man beings. The skeletons and the gen.
eral organization of their bodies are great
ly similar to those of the chimpanzecs.
The Veddah is the best preserved specimen
of the curly haired race. These black pyg-
mics lived in India many centuries before
Buddha or Jesus Christ. Historians o.
the early centuries of the Christian era
speak of the Veddahs and describe their
mode of living, which is almost in every
respect the same as at the present time
We find in the Mahavanso, the most inn
portant of the Cingalese chronicles, de-
tails concerning the Yakas, people who are
exactly like those whom we call Veddahs,
and the Sanscrit poem, "Ramavana," the
Had of India, uses the word ape when
speaking of the Yakas.
The mum Der of the Veddahs does not now
exceed 2,2OO yet they occupy an immense
tract of land, situated between degrees
and degrees latitude and 81 degrees and
so degrees longitude. If you wish to see
the Veddahs in their pure state, free from
any mixture with the other races of Cey
Ion, you must go to that part of the is
land They live in small groups, or in
families, apart from each other, each FAM
lily having it's own part of the forest to
hunt in When the rainy season--Octo-
ber-Decemb er-comes around and the for
est is inundated they take refuge among
the rocks and live in grottos. They are
thus thrown more together and become So
ciable; they arrange marriages and talk
about things in general. They recognize no
chiefs, know no laws and are quite devoid
of any ideas.
1t has been said above that the Veddahs
resemble chimpanzees in certain respects.
It remains to be added that they are about
4 feet in height, their hair is thick and
black, and when in trouble or grieved they
hang their heads down upon their breasts
In a way which gives them peculiar APP
pearance. Among themselves they go
about naked, but when strangers are about
they adopt covering Of leaves or cloth.
They do not know what beds are, but pass
the night naked upon the moist ground
without the slightest covering. Their only
weapons are their wooden bows and ar
rows and their axes, which they always
have near them. Alcohol and salt are both
unknown to them.
Their communication with the Cingal-
ese is reduced to this: During the night
they will pla4s in front OF the door OF
Cingalese blacksmith some money and
dried meat, with rough model, made OF
leaves and twigs, of the ak which they re-
auire. A few nights afterward they will
go to the door and take away the ak. which
the blacksmith has placed outside for
them. This shows what dislike they
have to mixing with other people.
Their language is very simple and con
sists of Cingalese words SO altered that
the natives of Ceylnn cannot understand
them and partly of words which are ap
parently the remains of some primitive
language. OF course there are no family
names. They say "the great man, " "the
little man, )" "the young woman, !" "the
old man." etc.
They know nothing of mum bers. When
they are talking Of many persons OF
things, they repeat several times a word
which indicates single thing. They
therefore cannot say how old they are. Di-
visions of time cannot be expressed, and
the dimensions of objects are indicated by
actions. When they first see a looking
glass or frearm, they act just as mon
keys do under similar circumstances. Re
ligion, belief in good or evil spirits, fear
of death, are all unknown to them. When
a veddah dies, the others leave him where
he has died and shun the place for long
time, during which the body disappears
Yet, with all this lack of intelligence,
they are honest and trustworthy. They
live peaceably and have no internal feuds,
which is probably due to the fact that
they live apart, except in the rainy season.
The English government has on several
occasions tried to establish schools for
their children and endeavored to Chris
tianiza the Veddahs hut without SUCCESS