The morning times., 1896-02-29
A RACE OF DwARFs.
a Tribe of Little People Who Live in
the Pyrenes

A Tribe of Little People Who Live in
the Pyrenes.
There has long dwelt in the heart OF the
Pyrenees. on the old Catalonian border of
Spain, curious race Of dwarfs, supposed by
some to be of Tartar origin. A writer in
recent issue of Cosmos describes them and
advances a theory Of their origin iii con
sonancc with modernauthropology
They inhabit the valley OF the Rihas in
the northwestern part Of the Spanish prov
ince now called Corona. They never eX-
coed 81 1-2 inches In height and have short,
i'll formed legs, great bellies, small eyes,
flat noses, and pale. unwh0lesome complex
ions. They are usually stupid. often to
the verge Of idiocy, and much subject to
goitre and scrofulous affections. The
chief town of the Rihas valley is Ribas, a
place Of 1900 Inhabitants, about 500 feet
above sea level.
The mountains rise about he town to
height of c, 900 90 5000 feet, and command
| an amazingly beautiful panorama of
mountain, plain and river. with Spanish
cities visible upon the one side and French
upon the other. The region is rich, both
agricuiturally and minerally, and is IA
| nous for its medicinal springs. In this
paradise dwell the dwarfs, perhaps as de-
| graded race Of men and women as may
be found in any civilized community. They
are almost without education, ard inhabit
| wretched huts when they have any shelter.
| The most intelligent are employed as shep-
| herds, and in summer they live for months
| at an elevation Of more than 5000 feet
| without shelter. Here they see no human
| creature save some OF their own kind, often
| idiots, who are sent up every fifteen or
| twenty days with Il supply of food.
1t is said that formal marriage is al
| most unknown among them. The women
| in some instances are employed in the
| village Of Ribas as nurses for children,
| and as such are found tender and faith
| full Before communication throughout
the region was as easy as it it now
| it was thought lucky TO have one OF
! these dwarfs In a family, and the dwarfs
were hired out and even sold to be used
in beggary in nefghbdriDg cities. There
| are somewhat similar dwarfs in other
| valleys Of the Pyrenees, but the number
| is decreasing, ana those OF the Rfbas
| Valley are reduced to "a few individuals.
| The writer in the Cosmos article re-
| jects the theory of Chinese origin for
! the dwarfs, and believe that they are
| merely the degenerate descendants OF
| the ordinary natives, ill-nourisbed for
| generations upon a diet OF potatoes and
| black bread.
| The fact that with improved means Of
| communication the dwarfs are decreasing
| helps to confirm the writer's theory, and he
believes that with proper nourishment and
| decent shelter, their descendants would
| gradually return to the normaltype. Mean
| while the neighbors of the dwarfs look upon
| them with a curious mixture of feelings.
The fact that the dwarfs drink much at a
| particular mineral spring has given rise to
a superstition that whoever drinks of it will
become deformed and, and the normal ma
| tives are Mortified to see visitors expert
menting with the dreaded waters. There is
| reason to believe that the waters OF the
| spring are beneficial to the stomachs of
| well-nourished persons, but injurious to
| those who are accustomed to an unwhole-
some diet, and it is entirely possible that
the ilFfed dwarfs have been Injured by
drinking Of the SPRING