Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1898-11-27

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 the Philippines have suddenly become extremely interesting from the Ameri- can point of view, now that the Unit cd states government has decided to absorb the archipelago conquered by Dewey. They are more notable in Yankee eyes from the fact that some of them are the direct descendants Of the earliest known inhabitants of the earth Others-i. C., the Malays-whe conquered these ancient aborigines, and are now the ruling race in Poly nesia, are actually supposed, for very good seasons. to be distant relatives of our own.
 You see in the vast island-stndded region called Oceanica, i'll the south western Pacific, there are found three widely different varieties of human be- ings, who occupy the groups neighbor- ing to the Philippines. Some of them represent the lowest existing type of man, while others are chiefly civilized. To the former category belong the Tit tie niggers" to science as Ne gritos-Who are dwarfs, not averaging in height over four feet eight inches. They cannot count above five, and are 90 monkey-lille as to counterfeit the ape startlingly. They have black wool and heads too large, seemingly, for their bodies. The jaws are projected far be- yond tho nose, like a monkeys, and their faces are wTinllled in deep lines like an ape'e. They have what looks like a third eyelid, though it is in real ity an inner-fold of the ordinary lid, aud the three outer toes of each foot are turned inward, as in some mon keys. Their legs have no calves, and some tribes of them are quite wild, living in the forests and snbsisting mainly upon fruits.
 1t is decidedly interesting to con sider that the United States is now ac- quiring a fresh population from the very part of the world in which man as species is believed to have origi- mated. In this region it is that the early history of the human race is be- ing most hopefully studied. One step back of the little niggers is there found in the Kalangs of Java, now nearly extinct, who are the most ex- tremely monkeylille people ever seen alive in modern times. Some authori- ties, indeed, are of the opinion that the aot=distant progenitors ofthe Kalangs were probably furry, with q woolly un- der and a sleek outer coat, like the seals.
 As for the little nigger,' he is the aboriginal descendant of almost every large island in Polynesia. He was on the premises centuries before any big ger eolored man, or Malay either, thought of arriving and taking posses sion. So far as the isles of the South 8eas are concerned, he was the orig inal preemptor; all others were in- cemers-the big negroes, and, later the Malays-in recognition of force ma jeure, to which any rlan, however, civ llized, may honoraby bow.
 From these circumstances it has come about that in nearly every group of islands neighboring to the Philip pines there is an aboriginal population of black dwarfs, who are rapidly dying out. 1t will be remembered, by the way, that some years ago the show man, Barnum, brought to this country a dwarf whom he called the "Wild Man 1 of Borneo.' The said wild man may or may not have come from Borneo but he was unquestionably little mig 1 ger" of the kind described.
 The wild men of Borneo.-of the little niggers' of that island are to be 1 thus denominated-are forest people They are timid, having been long hunted by the conquering MaIays, and l 1t is hard to get acquainted with them The only practicable commerce with 1 them is by deposit That is to say, the intending purchaser of their goods places in d certain spot (mutually rec ognized for shopping" purposes) a given quantity of q certain article-pos- sibly small looking glasses. Tn return, the wild men, deposit what they un- derstand to be wanted, and it may be taken away at leisure. A meeting be- tween buyer and seller is not required In this way the dwarfs sell gold, pre- cious stones, rare plants and skins of birds. They kill the birds with the blowpipe. through which they project l DJ bllG D1tdlti ItOtsoAeN udi lS. AhQ llllS by the way, is the manner in which many exquisite skins of birds-of-para. disc come to market. Borneo is coun- try famous for beautiful birds.
 As for these wild men" of Borneo the like of whom are found on so many other islands in Polynesia, they exist in the most primitive way imaginable Clad in little or nothing besides sweet smile and nose-plug. they liy. pretty much as do the orang-outangi of their own forests. It is a curiou! fact that, whether in Africa or in th, great islands to tke southeast of tn, Asiatc continent, the black dwarf seem to be accompanied by the grea anthropoid apes, which look so mucl like them. In Africa the pigmies shar great areas with the chimpanzee ant gorilla; in Borneo the dwarfs are founc In company with the orang and th, gibbon.
 Baby orangs are one of the articlei of barter used by the dwarfs of Borneo