The advocate., 1897-10-13

a considerable consistent of the pOpula
ton OF Ovaherer0 and OvampO In Ger
man southwest Africa. Dwarfish com.
munities have, moreover, been recently
reported In the more inaccessible recess
Of the Great Atlas mountains, more par.
ticularly In the Draa basin on the verge
Of the desert. Indeed, all the indica-
tions to hand are all in favor of the
assumption that the pigmies were the
aborigines of Africa, and the other races
on that continent-NegrO, Hamite and
Arab, as well as English, French and
German, are all later intruders. Outside
of Africa the pigmies have footing in
Madagascar, under the name Of the XII
mos. In the heart OF India they lurk
in the Vindhya mountains. In the An
daman islands they have long been
known as Mincopics. In the Phillip
pines they are known as Aetas; in the
Malayan islands as Samangs; in Java
as Kalangs. In some parts Of Ceylon a
dwarfish race, with almost all the char
acteristics of the other pigmies, wan
ders about in small family groups by
the name of Veddahs.
Du Chaillu's discovery in 1866 Of pig
mics in the region of the Ogowe river
(west Africa made a great stir in Eu-
rope when the story first came out. One
hundred and forty miles south of the
equator, and to the east of a southern
tributary of the OgOwe, Du Chaillu, in
June of 1865, suddenly struck, in the
savage forest, village of wild dwarf
negroes, called Obongo. The village,
whence, on the approach of Du Chaillu's
party, all of the inhabitants had fed,
consisted of cluster of extraordinary
little huts, each Of low oval shape,
like that of gypsy tent, about four feet
wide, and the highest part about four
feet from the ground The huts were
each made of the flexible branches Of
trees, arched over, and fixed into the
ground, the whole covered with large
leaves. Inside these huts there were
three or four sticks laid down at each
end for the man and woman to sleep on,
and in the middle of the earth floor
smOuldered the embers Of a fire. A little
further east Du Chaillu came on another
village Of the little folks. Not to alarm
them, he made for their settlement on
tip-tOe, accompanied only by three men
and two guides. In retired nook Of the
forest he counted twelve huts of the
same slight make as in the case Of those
already described. Yet the villagers had
caught the alarm, and every household
was truly mot at home" Entering un-
invited, Du Chaillu found the abodes
very filthy, and the intrusive visitors
were stung out Of the place by sWarms
of 11eas. Another quarter of a mile
through the forest they approached a
third village, and again with the utmost
caution, the Ashango guides, moreover,
dangling bunch Of beads before the
retreating Obongos. Their fears, though,
were not to be allayed; they scampered
off in a quaking hurry. Du Chaillu yet
managed to surprise three old women
and one young man. One Of the three
hags, touched by the beauty of the beads
he gave them, and plucking up heart
OF grace, rated the runaway men, "they
were as frightened as squirrels that
cried Que, QUE" and while 80 speak
ing she twisted her body in such odd
contortions as to make our travellers
party all laugh outright. When, how
ever, Du Chaillu proceeded to unrOll his
tape, in order to measure the bold shrew,
her fear returned on her. The unwind
ing tape was mysterious snake she
had never before clapped eyes on, and
she trembled all over.
Still, by magic of presents and fatter-
les, her nerves gradually calmed, and
she at last let herself get measured
4 feet Az inches. The young man stood
feet inches. In color the Obongo are
Of a dirty yellow, lighter than the
negroes among whom they
dwell. Their eyes look restless and un-