The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-09-11

centuries, ana the modern world, until recently, refused TO
give credence to stories of their existence. Up to forty
five years ago there was no good evidence that there
were any tribes of dwarfs in Africa.
In 1855 the American explorer, Du Chailu, discovered
the Babongo dwarfs in the forests near the Atlantic. A
larger group was found by the German explorer,
Schweinforth, in Central Africa, along the northeastern
tributaries Of the Congo, not very far from the Nile.
Stanley, Sir Harry Johnston, A. B. Lloyd and other ex-
plorers found the little men widely scattered through this
densely forested part of the Congo basin and extending
far south and over into the basin Of the Nile.
Everybody who has encountered these dwarfs has
been astonished by their sturdiness, their remarkable
agility. and their skill as hunters. They are physically
perfect specimens of men and women, except that they
are only from four to four and a half feet high. They live
solely by the chase, and attempt none of the industries Of
the husbandman.
Although the bands of pygmies in Equatorial. Africa
are widely scattered, they have the same habits and
characteristics. and seem to be the dispersed fragments
of a large family.
Some anthropologists believe that they have discover
ed ~resemblances between the languages spoken by dwarfs
living far apart, but Sir Harry Johnston, as the result Of
long study, has arrived at the conclusion that these Congo
pygmies no longer have an original language of their own.
but speak, in a slightly corrupted form, the languages Of
the taller tribes in whose neighborhood they dwell
HOW PYGMIES WERE FOUND
The BATAVIA tribe. from which come four of the diminu-
tive specimens at st. Louis. lives along the southern
tributaries Of the Congo. and were discovered by the
missionary traveller Grenfell. AS he pushed his little
steamer up the rivers the dwarfs would Chamber out on
the branches Of trees overhanging the water and shoot
their poisoned arrows at the vessel 1t was protected.
however. by wire netting. and no harm was done.
Still another group was discovered in the northeast.
south Of .Abyssinia, by the American explorer, DR..
Donaldson Smith, and there is a curious story connected
with the finding of these people.
For about forty years missionaries and traders along
the Indian Ocean had heard from natives who came to
the coast from the interior that dwarfs were living far
from the ocean south of Abyssina. DR.. Henry Schlfchter,
Of the British Museum, collected all these stories and
gave much labor to the task Of trying to ascertain from
the various accounts the region in the interior where the
dwarfs would be found. At last he fixed upon a small
region. and published a map on which he marked this
place as the pygmies' probable nome.
Donaldson Smith had never heard Of these dwarfs or
Of DR.. Schlchter, and his work, and when he discovered
the pygmies in the exact territory where Schlichter had
said they would probably be found. he thought he had
made a wholly original find. He was very much surprised
when he returned home to see Schlichters map.
The last group of dwarfs to be discovered was found
in 1898 by a German expedition in the Cameroons, along
the Atlantic coast north of the French Congo. They differ
in no respect from the little folks found In other parts Of
Africa.
Attempts made to take these pygmies away from their
forests and sun-burned plains for the study Of anthro-
biologists. have not been very successful. A few have
been taken to Italy and Germany, but they have either
died in the strange countries or have been sent back to
Africa to save their lives. They seem unable to live long
better success with his little band.