The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1896-03-19
PRIMITIVE DWARFS.
TIE Peculiar Inhabitants of the Lonely
Andaman Islands.

Inc Recul1ar 2nHaDluahts oI Cne Lonely
Andaman Islands.
A remarkable chronological collection
from the Andaman islands has Just
reached the National museum from DIR.
Fnrico Giglioli, director of the Florence
museum. 1t comprises large number
of objects illustrating the arts and in
dustries of the strange race of dwarfs
which inhabiIs an archipelago Nthe
Bay of Bengal. Sailors have long
known these dwarfs as Little Niggefs,"
because the average height of the Snen
is only about four feet ten inches,
while the ordinary stature of the
women is four feet seven inches. Per-
haps the oldest thing about them is
that they look like babies all thair
lives.
Withal they are probably the most
primitive savages in the world Until
quite recently the dwarfs of the AndG-
mans did not know how to make fire.
On one of the islands of the archipelago
there is an active volcano, from phich
they were accustomed formerly to OBJ
tain fresh supplies of filc at intervals.
Special expeditions for this purpose
were not often necessary, inasrpsS.as y az
they knew how to keep fire burning in
decayed wood. The people of viii
lage, when leaving an encampmentwith
the intention of returning in a few days
would take with them one or more
smoldering logs. At the same time they
would place a large burning log or fagot
in a sheltered spot, where it would
shoulder for a long while.
There are several shades of color
among these little persons, ranging
from bronze to shiny black and sooty.
Their hair is extremely frizzly, grow
ing in spiral tufts. 1t is fine in texture
and seldom more than two or three
their heads once a week, leaFing only
two narrow strips of hair from the
crown to the nape of the neck. Many of
the men follow the same practice,
though the style is different. Men
sometimes shave each others heads,
but only when the services of woman
are not available, for it is one of the
duties of the fair sex in these tribes to
act as BARRIERS.
These dwarfs are nearly naked. The
women wear small aprons of leaves, and
never appear without them. AS pro-
lection against the hot tropical sun the
people smear their bodies with white
wash of clay and water. Efforts to re-
claim the Andamanese from their saw
age state have not been productive of
unmiXed good. Homes have been estab-
lished for their benefit by missionaries,
but the native inmates of these institu-
tions are fat and lazy, spending their
time for days together in singing, dane
ing and feasting.
The most remarkable custom among
these little persons is the wearing of
necklaces of human bones. When a
child dies the body is buried, only to be
| dug up after awhile. The father takes
| it to the seasnore or the nearest creek,
and there removes the flesh from the
bones with the utmostcare. This done,
he brings the skull and bones back to
his hut and breaks up the latter into
small pieces suitable for necklaces. The
mother, after painting the skull with a
yellow pigment and decorating it with
small shells attached to pieces of string,
hangs it around her neck. Sometimes
her husband wears it himself. Infants
| skulls, being fragile, are preserved care
fully from risk of injury by being en-
! tirely covered with string.
The next few days are spent by the
mother in stringing the bones intoneck-
laces, and when several have been made
she and her husband pay visits to their
friends, among whom they distribute
these mementoes. Such necklaces are
worn as charms TO ward off disease, and
also during illness, by friends or rela-
tives of the dead child. Teeth taken
from human skulls are sometimes
strung together for necklaces. Every
| Andaman islander has at least one neck
lace of human bones.
The villages are usually short lived
and very dirty. Crows and hermit
crabs serve as scavengers and clean
| them up as soon as migration takes
| place. Before the arrival of the whites
the Andamanese knew nothing of agri-
culture, never planting a seed in the
ground. Though they prefer the fruits
of the cultivated fields to the spon-
taneous products of their iungles, they
cannot be induced to do farming work.
1t is an old story that wherever civiliza-
ton goes, with its diseases and whisky
and tobacco, it wipes out the primitive
savage races. The Andaman islands af-
ford no exception to the rule. Both
sexes drink and smoke. The aboriginal
population there is rapidly disappear
ing, the death rate far exceeding the
birth rate, and before very long this in
teresting little people will be practical
! ly eXtinct.-N. Y. Journal.
A Little More of the Same
| Little fOur-year-old Florence WI.