The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1895-10-09

Eventually they become widely scat
tered over the seas OF that part OF the
world aud on the mainland as well.
Some tribes of them still exist in the
most inaccessible and unwholesOme
parts OF India, where they are known
as "man apes" or "men Of the jun
giles" Once upon q time they were
numerous in Java, where they were
wiped out by Malays who Joined to
murderOus prOpensities a civilization
capable of erecting the thousands OF
gigantic temples whose ruins today
amaze the archaeological explorer IN
that island. Some anthropOligists are
Of the opinion that the remains OF
sO-called fossil man recently found In
Java are actually the bones OF little
negro.
Bigger and stronger people gradu-
alIy drove out and killed Oft these pig
miles, who now are found occupying
the interior OF some of the largest ISL
ands, finding a refuge among the
mountains, while the plains and cos
tai regions are inhabited by intruding
races. This is true Of LuzOn, the
largest member Of the group of Phil
ippfnes. The dwarfs wers found there
by the first Spanish settlers, as well as
in the interior of the four other prin-
cipal islands. They will have moth
ing to do with the Spanish, Malay or
Chinese inhabitants, and intrusion
upon their territory Is vigorously re-
sented. Armed rs they are with poi
soned arrows, the slightest scratch
from which means death, they are
well able to defend themselves. There
are parts of LuZOn in which no white
man dares to set foot, and some Of the
smaller isles of the group remain to
this day UNEMPLOYED, for the same
reason.
The dwarfs trade 20 some extent
with Chinese peddleTs, but in a very
peculiar fashion. The peripatetic mer-
chant deposits money in a certain
spot and goes away to distance In
return for il the savages leave in the
same place such merchandise as rare
gums, fine woods and the leaves and
roots of valuable plants, which the
peddler is able to dispose Of in the
cities at a great profit. They are al
ways scrupulously honest and liberal
IN their dealings. The respective ter
ritories Of the various tribes are
bounded by chains of hill or belts of
jungle, which must not be crossed
without formal invitation or special
permission. Occasional violations of
this law cause bloody fights. The
little negroes are the smallest people
in the world, with the exception, per
haps, of the black dwarfs of the Congo,
who are said TO average four feet and
two and q half inches in height.
Owing to the extreme wildness of
these little people and the difficulty of
approaching them, they have never
been studied to any extent, except on
the Andaman islands. There the race
has been kept particularly pure, no
intrusion by strangers having occur
red. At all events, there has been no
l. e. 4,
lays and Chinese have for centuries
frequented the islands for the purpose
Of gathering edible swallows nests.
They have laid traps for the natives,
in order to catch them and make
slaves Of them. On this account the
pigmies have made a practice of kill
ing mariners who CHANGED to be cast
away on their shores. By nature they
are gentle and kindly. Their morals
are an improvement on those of most
white people. Sexual improprieties
are almost unheard of amongst them.
Marriage between cousins they con-
slider an outrage on decency.
The sight and hearing of these pig
mics are extremely delicate, the for
mer sense being more developed among
the tribes in the jungles and the latter
among the people who live on the
coast. The coast dWellers in the dark
est nights pierce with harpoon the
turtles which come to breathe at the
surface of the water, having no guide
but the slight noise made by the rep
tiles in doing so. The dwarfs are
short-Iived, fifty years among them
being extreme old age. The wife of a
chief has an authority among the
women which corresponds to her hus-
bands authority over the men. She
keeps these privileges when a widow
II she has children, otherwise she loses
them. From eleven to thirteen years
of age Is for both sexes q period of
rigid abstinence, during which they
must not eat turtle, pork, fish or honey
articles of diet which under ordinary
are their staple food.
Some of the customs of the dwarfs
are very odd, according to the testi-
mony of NJ. Quatrefages, TO whose
newly published work the writer Is
indebted for much of his information
about these little people. When a
child dies it's body Ia eXhumed at the |
end of three months. The ia th-r cleans |
the bones and paints the skull yellow. |
The bones are divided into fragments !
and made into necklaces, which are !
among friends of the family |
for souvenirs. On the Andamans the |
pigmieS do not know how to make |
fire, but only TO keep it alive. They |
say they got it originally from q god, |
bat il may have been obtained from |
one of two volcanoes in the Deighbor- |
hood. It is surmised that their ances- !
tors may have understood how to /
make q fire in the customary manner /
OF savages, by rubbing two sticks to- |
gether. They have u legend of the /
great flood which, owing to |
neglect OF Divine commands, covered |
the whole earth and destroyed all /
living things. Two men and two 4
women who CHANGED to be in a canoe |
alone escaped, and they were the pro-
genitOrs of the subsequent race. 1t is
worth mentioning, by the way, that
the so-called Wild Man OF Borneo eX-
hibited in a cage by Barnum many /
years ago was little negro from the
Malay Archipelago.
Inuor IL. 1.-... - IL. nLi1t;