The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1897-02-18
LAST OF TIE BUSHMEN.
One Of the Lowest Types of Humanity
Removed From the Animal.


Removed From the Animal,
One of the most interesting races in
the world from an ethnologist's point
Of view is on the point of extinction.
For many years past the bushmen of
South Africa have been dwindling in
numbers till the survivors may almost
be counted on ones fingers. The bush
men is first cous in to the diminutive
race of pygmies found by the great ex-
plorer, Du Chaillu, in the coast lands
of Western Africa, near the equator,
and closely resembles the dwarfs found
by Stanley in the great Aruwhimi for
est In all probability they are the
remnants of the aboriginal race of
Africa, the African earth by successive
invasions of Hoftentot, Bantu and ne
gro tribes. Their existence in Africa
is mentioned as far back as 1880 by An
drew Battell, one of the earliest of
Africa's English explorers. He de-
scribes them as ''no bigger than boys
of 19 years old, but very thick, and
live only upon flesh, which they kill in
the woods with their bows and their
darts"
The bushman is one of the lowest
types of humanity, not many degrees
removed from the animal He is of
small stature, but not dwarfed, and
with high cheek bones his deep set
eyes have an exceedingly cunning look,
Bushmen are troglodytes, and, remain
ing in their caves by day, they sally
forth at night from their mountain
Businesses and harass the nearest farm
ers by Staying their stock with arrows
composed of reeds, tipped with bone or
iron saturated in the fatal juice of the
euphhrbia tree, mixed with the poison
of snakes and spiders. So troublesome
did they become in Natal during the
early history of the colony that special
fort was built-now known as Fort
Nottingham-when expeditions were
organized against these diminutive
marauders. Still later a war of ex-
termination was waged against them by
band of farmers under the Drakens-
berg who raided their haunts in the
wild mountains, and succeeded in free
ing themselves from this troublesome
pest. Every bushman fought for him
self, and they recognized no chief, much
less any privitive system of gooernment
such as prevails among the Bantu race.
1t is singular thing that, though so
low in the social scale, the bushman
possesses the power of illustration to-
tally unknown to his more civilized
successors, and very creditable repre-
sesentations of Glands, dingos, snakes
and even scenes of hunting and battles
are to be found in the caves of Drakens-
berg, above the sources of the Bushman
River, Several of the drawings have
been removed to the library at Pieter-
maritzburg, where they form valuable
collection for the colonial antiquary.
The bushman's language is mainly
composed of clicks, of which there are
six distinct kinds, but it is impossible
on hearing one of this pygmy race talk
to do otherwise than set him down as an
animal, There is a local tradition in
Natal that ''the last of the bushmen"
was farm laborer at one of the home
steads under the Drakensberg; and,
falling sick of a fever, his end was
devoutly looked for by local scientist,
who, on the desired consummation, OBJ
tanned his bones and forwarded them to
England, where they are now exposed
to public gaze in the South Kensington
Museum. Chicago Chronicle.