Rocky Ford enterprise., 1895-08-01

~ WARTS have fur
!: !: ] ! !
nished themes for
~ TlSRN countless ro-
N&I SS< m ces. T icy
xS&@O divide with giants
NR the interest Of a
w | AG thousand nursery
III u 7& tales. To no small
NlDN extent the domain
S,W of superstition IL
~ invaded by them.
w All countries, more
Ir less, but Germany in particular, are
infested by gnomes and goblins, and
Palmer Cox's brownies have not ceased
10 delight grown people as well as
children in the United States. But
The man who knew most about the
zeal dwarfs was M. de Quatrefages. who
lied only few months ago. This
,mlnent scientific man devoted much OF
his life to a study of pigmies. as he
called them, and a posthumous work on
the subject has Just been published.
The ancients quite generally were ac-
luainted with the pigmies. Homer
speaks of them, and they figure in
many of the legends Of antiquity.
Aristotle described them as dwelling in
Africa, toward the sources Of the Nile,
and it was in that very region that a
modern explorer, Schweinfurth, dis
covered race of dwarfs. Says Aris-
totle: This Is the district which the
pigmies inhabit, whose existence is not
fable. There is really, as men say,
species of men Of little stature, and
their horses are little also. They pass
their time in caverns"
Schweinfurth found no horses among
his dwarfs. but neighboring tribes had
cows and sheep of such small size as TO
be truly liliputians. Two pigmies
were brought to Europe and adopted by
Count Miniscalchi, who brought them
up and educated them. They proved
Intelligent and did quite we'll In their
studies.
The pigmies Of Schweinfurth, whose
real existence has given rise to SO many
fables, call themselves Akkas. The
territory occupied by them is of con-
siderable extent, in the neighborllood
Of degrees moth latitude and 25
aegrees east longitude. At the time Of
lac explorers visit they numbered
nine distinct tribes, each having its
own chief. Schweinfurth passed
through the country of the Nam
Mans, and penetrated to that Of the
Monbuttos. 1t was at the court of
native king named Munza that he dis
covered the dwarf race. Munza main
tanned little colony of the dwarfs,
near his royal residence. At that time
the various tribes Of Akkas had sub
mitted to Moummeri, one Of Munza's
vassals, who had come to render
homage to his sovereign at the
head of several hundred of the
pigmies. Thus Schweinfurth had a
good opportunity for studying them.
In exchange for one of his dogs,
he obtained from Munza young
male Aka, who died subsequently Of
dysentery.
Most of the data gathered by
Schweinfurth were lost in a fire, in
Guiding measurements and notes which
could not be replaced. Subsequent
travellers, however, encountered some
of the dwarfs. Munza having learned
their value as objects Of curiosity, gave
some of them from time to time to
buyers of ivory who visited him. Thus
an Individual of the race reached Khar-
toum, sent as present to the governor
of the Soudan by Emin Bey. An ex-
plorer named Miami, following in
Schweinfurth's footsteps, finally ar
rived among the Monbuttos. Succumb-
ing to the fatigues Of the journey, he
died, bequeathing to the Geographical
Society of Italy two young Akkas. whom
he had got in exchange for dog and
a calf These dwarfs, Tebo and Chair
aIlahr, were the ones adopted by Count
Miniscalchi.
Some anthropologists were inclined
to believe that the Akkas were fakes,
so to speak, and that Tebo and Chair
allah would grow to good size some
day. Chairallah died, but Tebo grew
70 manhood, and did not pass the
stature of the average pigmy as re-
ported. His height was four feet seven
inches. The mean stature of these
| dwarfs appears to be about four feet
four and one-half inches. This reck-
oning makes them the smallest peo-
pie III Inc WOTlu, luc buSuucu, per
haps. but not oertainly, excepted. The
color of this Akkas, according to
| Schweinfurta, b like that of coffee
slightly roastSA Count Miniscalchi no.
ticed that it was darker In summer and
paler in winter.
A marked characteristic of the Akkas
is an enormous development of abdo-
men, which causes the adults to re
semble the children Of negroes. In the
| photographs Of Tebo and Chairallan
this feature is most pronounced. Tht
' chest, comparatively narrow above, Ii
dilated below in order to contain the
huge paunch. But 1t is evident that
this popularity is not a true race char
I acteristic, being largely due to the
manner in which the pigmies live and
to the quality of their food.
After some weeks Of wholesome diet
| Tebo and Chairallah lost their big
stomachs. The Akkas have short legs
an1 very small hands. Their senses
C.I