Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-06-25
PIGMIEs FROM AFRICA.
Representatives of Strange Race Taken
to London.
Special Correspondence Of The Star

Special Correspondence Of The Star
LONDON, June II, 1905.
The six pigmies brought by Colonel Har-
| rison from the great unknown forest of
| Central Africa have arrived in London at
| last after many delays and Interruptions
/ on the way.
few years ago Stanley set the world
| to talking of the strange little men whom
| he discovered in his great march across
| Africa. Now the six pigmies. first OF their
race to leave the swamps and forests of
| Central Africa, rode through London in a
| couple of four-wheeled cabs, one of them
smoking Havana cigar as naturally as a
stock broker. Since Sir Walter Raleigh
| brought his red Indians to England over
| 300 years ago there have been no such
strange visitors as these little human mon
keys from the darkest depths of Africa.
Out of the six pigmes four are men and
| two are women, but even Colonel Harrison,
! who discovered them in their forest home,
knows no relationship between them.
The little men treat the little women as
| inferior beings who ought to do as they are
told. There are no signs of affection
among them, save perhaps that Corrigl,
the younger and better looking of the Wo-
men, spends most of her time in gazing
| upon Mongogo, the youngest and liveliest Of
bare feet.
The names and ages OF the six pigmies
are: Magani IMAM. about 80; Mafanti
(man). about 80: Mattuka imam, about 81;
Mongogo tman). about 20; Maroupi (wo-
| MANI. about 80; Gorrigi {woman), about 49,
Magani, the chief is four feet high and
the tallest Of the six pigmies- He Is a
| splendidly developed pigmy, with broad
shoulders, deep chest and grizzly gray
| whiskers. He walks with dignif1ed swag-
ger, gets most OF the cigars and generally
COMFORTS himself like forest king.
Colonel Harrison found the pigmies llv-
ing near the equator in the forest south
west of Lake Albert at the head OF the
Nile. They reach maturity at an earlier
age even than the Hndus. They marry at
eight, at twenty they have grown-up chill
dren OF their own and are too old at
forty" for anything except the grave. The
only language they speak is Swahili the
tongue of the Uganda folk.
Perhaps the most interesting thing in
connection with this touch Of darkest
Africa is the manner in which the pignies
chant their forest songs in the heart of
civilization. Quietly the four men rise to
their feet and stand In a small circle, gag
Ing at the ground. The old woman pigmy
aside. For some moments the four are
perfectly still. Next old Magani OF the
grizzly gray beard pats the brown mat
gently with his right foot, and Mattuka Of
the large and shiny nose begins to hum
like a grooming babe.
Then the song and dance OF the paemtes
begins. The dance Is as ceremonious as a
minuet. and all four dance exactly alike
In the circle they move round and round
with head jerking and feet patting and
stamping gently on the ground The song
they sing Is composed chiefly Of vowel
like. and runs something Ike this:
| o eea eea ea-ea! o hee he-a hea-a-a!
q. Geo o-0-o-o-oi A-e a-a-aa-aaA~aal A-e e.
az "a aa! De o-o-o-o-o-o! Oe o-o-o-o!