The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1898-10-29
PECULIAR PEOPLE.
Primitive Dwarfb Inhabit tho Lone
II Andaman Islands.


80D00A0o' H00MD-0x100A Pairs x0oo
the HoasymeeA IN Gassae~
A remarkable chronological collection
from the Andaman islands has just
reached the National museum from DR.
FEnrico Giglioli, director of the Florence
museum. 1t comprises large number
of objects illustrating the arts and In
dustries Of the strange race Of dwarfa
which inhabits an archipelago in the
Bay OF Bengal. Sailors have long
known these dwarfs as g Little Niggers,
because the average height of the men
| 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 il
that they look like babies all their
lives.
Withal they are probably the most
primitive savages in the world. Until
quite recently the dwarfs of the Anda-
mans did not know how to make fire.
On one of the islands of the archipelago
there is an active volcano, from which
they were accustomed formerly to OBJ
tain fresh supplies Of filc at intervals.
Special expeditions for this purpose
were not often necessary, inasmuch as
they knew how to keep fire burning in
decayed wood. The people Of q vii
la9e, when leaving an encampmentwith
the intention of returning in few days
would take with them one or more
smoldering logs. At the same time they
would place large burning log or fagot
in 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. It is fine in texture
and seldom more than two or three
inches long. Most Of the women shave
their heads once 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 in different. Men
sometimes shave each others heads,
but only when the services of woman
duties of the fair sex in these tribes to
act as BARRIERS.
These dwarfs nre nearly naked. The
women wear small aprons ofleaves, 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 seashore or the nearest creek,
and there removes the flesh from the
bones with the utmost care This done,
his hut and breaks up the latter into
small pieces suitable for necklaces. The
mother, after painting the skull with
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 into neck
laces, and when several have been made
she and her husband pay visits to their
among whom they distribute
these mementoes. Such necklaces are
worn as charms to ward of disease, and
also during illness, by friends or rela-
ives of the dead child. Teeth taken
from human skulls are sometimes
strung together for necklaces. Every
Andaman islander has at least one neck
ace of human bones.
The villages are usually short lived.
md very dirty. Crows and hermit
.rabs serve as ecayengers and clean
hem up as soon as migration takes
'lace. Before the arrival of the whites
he Andamanese knew nothing of agri-
ulture, never planting a seed in the
round. Though they prefer the fruits
t the cultivated fields to the spon-
aneous products of their iungles, they
annot be induced to do farming work. |
is an old story that wherever civiliza-
ION goes, with it's diseases and whisky |
nd tobacco, it wipes out the primitive
avage races. The Andaman islands af-
ord no exception to the rule. Both
exes drink and smoke. The aboriginal
opulation there il rapidly disappear
,g, the death rate far exceeding the |
irth rate, and before very long this in
eresting little people will be practical |!
extinct-N. Y. Journal.
he Messengers View Of Human Nature.
A telegraph messenger probably sees
3 much Of the other side Of human ma
are as q doctor. One told the writer
{ this recently thAt women never
pened telegram without turning
ale, and, when the message was not
Ia arr,srw fhov looked diaAnDOiut9<l.