Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1905-09-27


at Iban bad been burned, and scve.
raj trading posts had been destroyed,
Ndombe, although importuned to
join, was IT,, only Bakuba chieftan
TO refuse to 'o 80, and all this conn-
try was as sste as St. Louis, during
the whole of that terrible time.
Ndombe said be would not break
bis word to his friend Fwela.
But oh what jubilation broke
out in the old town last night when
we reached there about 7 o'clock,
and the news spread from mouth to
mouth that the voyagers had all
come back safe and sound, loaded to
the muzzle with presents, and happy
as larks. The drums beat, the
trumpets blew, the guns were fired,
and the bowling was terrific.
Ndombe said that truly Fnela's God
was great, for most wonderful
thing had come to pass. When the
people began to recount their ad-
ventures and experiences you can
imagine what chorus of ejacula-
tions met the different startling facts
they told. The balloon sailing the
air like bird. the electric cars run
by like lightning, the houses taller
than the tallest trees in the forest,
the people for multitude like the
leaves on the trees, the soldiers with
guns making line from Ndombe to
the river, and the great guns making
noise like thunder (the Boer war;.
Next morning there was a rush TO
the river to bring mp he presents
which the party had brought. Alto
gether never had had such an ex-
perieuce, nor do | suppose such an
other has happened in all African
history.
There are some things which |
wish to make clear abont this expe-
dition. was asked to undertake it
because of the interest aroused in the
people by articles | had written in
scientific and literary journals. The
people were to come voluntarily or
not at all. This stipulation was
fulfilled to the letter. Among the
group were to be some of the Batwa
pigmies.
As to the five pigmies who were
with the party, have to say, that
after having studied the subject very
thoroughly, | assert with positive
ness that these people belonged to
exactly the same ethnic class as the
pygmies discovered in other parts Of
Africa by Du Chaillu, Schweinfurth,
Wissmonn, Sir Harry Johnson and
others. made for "Science" the
first comparative table of the mea-
surements of all of the discoveries of
the African pygmies ever made, and
the average shows that the pure
blooded typical pygmies of the
Batwa at Ndombe are of the same
stature. Moreover, the identity is
established by other anthropometri.
cal measurements, by language, by
the relations to the other natives, by
customs and manners, by character
of houses, and by many other tests
too numerous to mention here.
There are other settlements of
Batwa in Lukengu's country also, of
the same general type. There has
been an impression abroad which
gives an exaggerated idea of the
small stature of these people, but
they are still the smallest race of
mankind. 1t muat be remembered
that there is difference between
dwarf and pygmy, the former
being an abnormal member Of nor
NAL race, the latter normal member
of an abnormal race. But the pyg-
mics who went from Ndombe to the
fair were the first ever TO leave
Africa for civilized lands in the his
tory of the world. S. =. Werner.
DR. Thomas Finn, of Boonsboro, Mo-,