Waterbury evening Democrat., 1903-04-27
RACE IS DYING OUT.
Little Known People Who Inhabit
 West Coast of Africa.
Like the American Indians, They Have Adopted the White Mans Vices, Especially That of
 Wine-Drin L1ing.

Wine-DrinInIng.
 Reuters representative has had an interview with Lieut.. Boyd Alexander. rife brigade, who has just reached England after an interesting expedi- ton over the little known Spanish is- land of Fernando Pc, says the London Leader.
 Although lying within few miles of the Niger coast and in the direct track of steamers, the island is practically unknown except for 8 narrow culti- yated belt round the coast. The noun tainous interior, consisting of dense forest and Jungle, is given over en- tirely to a curious tribe of natives known as Boobies, the majority of whom have never seen a white man.
 Speaking of his travels, Lieut.. Alex ander said: T reached the island from the German port of Victoria, in the Cameroons, which is only 30 miles dis tant, and soon found that, owing to the physical conditions, scientific research was not an easy matter, The mountain ranges and dense forests, laden with fever, made travelling very difficult, es- pecially in the northern part of the is- land. Roads there are none, and the few native tracks so cross and recross that we were constantly losing our bearings.
 Of the natives of the island, Lieut.. Boyd Alexander said: .'They are cu- rious and timid race, quite unlike any thing have seen on the west coast, and of an extremely low type.
 Except for the purpose of going out on organized drinking bouts, many of them never leave their primitive dwellings among the rocks, and, gem erally speaking, they had never before seen a white man. They are known as Boobies. They are of poor phy and are, in fact, dying Of palm wine and rum.
 Usually they are quite naked, ex- cept for 8 curious straw bonnet which they wear. Some, however, add to this a scanty loin cloth. They make them selves more hideous than they would otherwise be by painting their bodies with colored mud, and plaster of this mixture, which is bright red, on the lower part of the face, renders them particularly unattractive.
 Their dirt is unspeakable. They never wash, but to their arms is at- ltached by means of hempen band knife which they use to scrape off the filth with which they are encased. They manage, too, to induce deformity by winding tightly round the upper arm and below the knee strong woven bands.
 They are exceedingly timid, and often when they caught sight of my party coming up a marrow track they would rush into the depths of the for est and set up weird and fearsome vail, in which their dogs joined. To keep Boobie away from his palm wine is to make him a wretched being
 At certain hours in the day their little villages would be quite deserted, everyone, including the little children, having gone off with their calabashes on a carouse. This is practically all they live for. They believe In an evil spirit, to propitiate which they make juju of small pieces of rotten wood. These they plant at certain specified places, and anyone touching them is supposed to sicken and die. Although carefully searched the island, could md no traces of their burial places.' .'' Lieut.. Boyd Alexander secured carly 500 specimens of birds, s6 ofwhich are new sto science. enc He states as curious fact that the&r birds, mammals and plants are for the most part quite un- like the west African forms, but are similar to those found on the eastern side of the continent.