Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1905-08-10


officer engaged in the operations
against the Moors in the Philippines
collected apparently substantial eyi.
dence relating TO a mysterious white
tribe in the island of Mindanao. The
mountainous district in the center OF
tMs island has never been explored,
and even the coast is not we'll known.
But along the seaboard many stories
are told of the fierce white people who
have their nome in the forest-clad
mountains of the interior. Eye.
witnesses depose to nave seen
strange, fair-compleXioned girl loiter
ing near a coast village, a girl who
fled toward the hills as soon as she
was addressed Other men and won.
en- of light-complexioned race was
said to nave been seen by more ven
turesome natives who were bold
enough to approach the wild mountain
district. The United States officer
was so impressed that he determined
to conduct an exploring party across
the center Of the island. But ap-
rarently the mysterious White folk had
vanished, for the world has as yet
heard nothing of his search being
crowned with success.
Arabia, however, can, VITA more
reason, boast of a white tribe. For
years stories of such race have been
told in the Persian gulf, and Rev. s.
M. Zwemer, an American missionary
stationed at Muscat, alluded some
time ago to "coffee-nouse babble In
eastern Oman concerning a mysterious
race of light-compleXioned people who
live somewhere in the mountains, slun
strangers and speak a language of
their own" Various theories have
been propounded to explain the fable:
but probably the explanation is to be
found in the narrative of a journey
made in Oman in 1876 by Col S. B.
Miles, published some time ago in the
Geographical Journal. Col Miles, in
the course of his travels nearly 80
years ago, came across a town named
Sheraizi, in the heart of the Green
mountains. This strange place was
percned like an eagle nest on the top
of a great cliff and was inhabited by
a people of lighter skin than the rest
of the tribes of the interior. They
rarely descended to the plains, and
refused to mix or intermarry with the
Arabs. Col. Miles found they were
the descendants of a portion of the
Persian army which invaded Oman in
the 10th century. The isolation OF the
town and the peculiar behavior of it's
people through so many generations
would undoubtedly give rise to ex
aggregated stories in the bazars on the
distant coast, and in this case the
origin of the fable may be regarde6 as
fairly certain.
Unfortunately for the romano OF
the world it seems practically I'm.
possible for stories of this character
! to nave the origins novelists would
wish. The world is comparatively
small today. The trail of the explorer
! Is over every land from Paraguay to
Thibet Forbidden lands are en-.
tered; hidden cities exist only in the
imagination of the fictionist. In a
period when trains run to Boklara
and the great African lakes, when the
4 tourist appears at Khartoum and
I4hasa itself Is threatened, there is no
room for a mysterious white race.
Even the dark continent is no longe2
allowed to nave its mysteries. Tne
photographer sits on the battered
walls of Kano, the Fuani emperors
have passed away.
One may no longer believe in the
existence of strange white people in
the equatorial Africa. Rider Hag
CARDS splendid race are probably only
the Banima, originally discovered by
Spoke in southwestern Uganda At
least, Sir Harry Johnston claims to
have discovered in them the clew to
many OF the mysterious white race
legends found in the dark continent
He was engaged in nothing more
thrilling Ian a tour of inspection to
Ankole wnen ne came across them.
Tney are of a very light complexion,
and are the "aristocrats" of this
region. Sir Harry Johnston says they
are obviously descended from Gala,
Somali or other Hamitic stock" ana
adds that some of them are more like
Egyptians than is the case with CALAIS
and Somahs Romance disappears be,
fore the trend of the explorer. The
!.