St. Paul daily globe., 1895-12-26
VISION OF BUSHMEN.
Africans Can See wild Beasts at
Great Distances and Avoid Dam

Great Distances and Avoid Dam
ger.
New York Herald.
There is a. race of men who can see
as far with the naked eye as an or
dinary man can with a telescope. "Ev-
cry man his own telescope might be
applied with propriety to these fortu-
nate persons. They live in a wild state
in the south of Africa, among the
tribes of bushmen. The name "bush-
man. is an Anglicism of the Dutch
word "bjoseman," meaning imam of
the woods" These human telescopes
have derived their extraordinary pow
er of vision, according to Herbert Spen-
Ger, through necessity. If it were not
for this they must have long ago be-
come extinct. They are remarkably
small in stature for wild men, and they
offer an easy prey for the large fierce
beasts that infest certain parts of
Southern Africa. And, on account of
their diminutive size they are not able
to fight on equal terms with their war
like and larger proportioned neighbors.
"Bushman," says Mr.. Spencer, "have
to guard against enemies, brute and
human, and must be ever on the alert
to kill or snare animals serving for
food. To identify distant moving OBJ
jects as such is therefore essential to
the preservation of life. Here is one
who, perhaps from some advantageous
variation in the form of the lenses, or
in the adjusting muscles, or in the
retinal elements, has a vision so keen
that he recognizes a man, or lion,
,1-l,0 ;rf1 ;c
half a mile greater than that at which
other persons can recognize it."
Travellers in the region of the long
sighted bushmen have reported some
truly remarkable feats with the eyes.
One day while an European was walk
ing in company with a friendly BUSH
man, the latter suddenly stopped, and
pointing ahead in some alarm, ex-
claimed:
"a lion"
The white man stared until his eyes
ached but he could make out nothing.
Thinking that the native must have
made a mistake, he insisted on going
forward, though his companion urged
him to retreat. When they had ad-
vanced a little further the bushman
+ again came to a halt and absolutely
refused to go on another step, for, as
he explained, he could distinguish not
only a lion but also number of cubs
1t would be very dangerous, he said,
to tamper with a lioness while nursing
her cubs.
The European, however, still unable
to see lion, much less the cubs, push
ed on boldly. When he had advanced a
quarter of a mile he saw an object NOV
ing slowly along in the distance at the
point to which the bushman had direct
ed his gaze. Still doubling that a hui
man being could possess such marvel
a Gus powers of vision, he approached
! nearer and finally distinguished the
form of a lion making leisureIy for a
+ line of timber. The limit of a man S
power of vision is established by me-
s"cessity. If our existence depended on
our ability to see twice as far as we
do, this additional power would be ac-
quired by practice. Deerslayer, of
Leather Stocking fame, surprised ev-
eryone by his long-sightedness. Proba-
. bly, he could see further than these
bushmen, but he was a fiction charac-
ter. All woodsmen, and, as a general
thing, all persons living an outdoor
life, give their eyes practice at long
range, which ultimately makes their
accuracy of sight seem wonderful to a
man who never uses his eyes except
to read. A man with the eyesight of
bushman, aided by the immense Lick
telescope, might be able easily to tell
all about the canals of Mars and settle
at once the much vexed question as to
whether that planet is inhabited To a
person so gifted, Mars would appear
many times clearer and nearer than to
q man of ordinary vision.