The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-03-22
monty employed by savages for the pur-

monty employed by savages for the pur-
pose.
Formerly the dwarfs of the Andamans
We're accustomed to murder ruthleSsly all
strangers who approached their shores.
Melancholy indeed was the fate of ship
wrecked sailors who CHANGED to seek ref
uge on the islands of the archipelago.
They were sure to be shot to death with
arrows. Indeed. distressed mariners cast
away in that part of the Bay of Bengal
would be most likely to be masSacred
even at the present day. 1t is believed
that the inveterate hostility of the Little
Niggers arose originally from the cruel
nese, who visited the Andamans to get
edible birds nests and sea cucumbers.
They used to kidnap the natives and sell
them as slaves I'm neighboring countries.
When the British established a settle
ment there the savages frequently at
tackled them and took every opportunity
of stealing the iron tools and other i'm
PIGMENTS which excited their cupldity.
Within recent years they have become
comparatively tractable, however.
: There are several shades of color among
to sooty and black. Their hair is ex-
tremely frizzly, so as to look as If 1t
grew in spiral tufts 1t is fine in texture
and seldom more than two or three inches
long. Most of the women shave their
heads once a week. leaving 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, a circular patch of
hair six inches in diameter being left, like
a skull cap on the crown of the head.
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. The eyebrows are
generally removed also. The razor Is a
fake of quartz or glass.
These dwarfs are almost naked. The
women wear small aprons of leaves, but
the men wear nothing. The men wear
punches of leaves attached to their knees
and wrists. Carriers, bracelets and neck
laceS and bones, shells or wood are COM
mon ornaments. Tattoong serves to a
certain extent as a substitute for raj
ment. Women do the tattooing. As a
protection against the hot tropical sun,
the people smear their bodies with a
whitewash of clay and water. Efforts to
reclaim the Andamanese from their savage
state have not produced results of I'M
mixed good. Homes having been estaD-
lished for their benefit by missionary in
fiuence, those accommodated at these in
situations are fat and lazy, spending their
time for days together in singing, dancing
and feasting
1t is an old story that wherever civiliza-
tion goes, with it's diseases and whisky. It
wipes out the primitive savage races. The
Andaman islands afford no exception to
the rule. The original population there Is
rapidly disappearing, the death rate far
exceeding the birth rate, and before very
long these interesting little people will
be practically extinct. They have deli
stand sickness from which Europeans
easily recover. Fifty years is the extreme
limit of age among Them and, partly
owing to the great mortality in infants
the average length of life is only about
x years. From time to time epidemics
of measles and other complaints COM
municateo I'M the whites have DESTROY
ed large numbers of them. Their Tissue
cess in rearing their offspring is due in
great measure to the custom by which
each infant is sucked by the women in
discriminatory. In this manner diseases
are spread. 1t is a notable fact thar
no idiots or lunatics are ever found among
the Andamanese.
The Little Niggers had no knowledge OF
1ntoxicants until the Europeans came.
Like most savages, they have readily ac-
CURED taste for whisky, and both men
ers of tobacco.
1t used to be supposed that the Andam-
anese We're cannibals. but this belief has
no foundation in fact They express the
greatest horror of the custom. Marriages
among them are arranged by go-between~
and newly-married couples are So hash,
fui that commonly they do not exchange
a wore or even look at each other for
some days after the ceremonv 90