The Delta independent., 1906-05-04
AFRICAN PYGMIES.
LONDON xNSRECTS SIX SNAEE
MDWZDUALS FROM TIE CON.
GO COUNTRY.

Il
! Women About Four Feet In Height
Without Religion. Co Naked and
have Peculiar Customs.
London town ID very much interest.
ed In six small human beings who
have recently arrived from Africa.
Colonel Harrison. an oflcer in the
British Army. has brought with him
nom the lturi forests Of the Belgium
Congos half dozen pygmies.
Colonel Harrison went last year
into the Iturt forest. also known as
Stanley forest, hoping to capture one
or more okapis. This part OF his cx.
pedition was failure. On the other
hand. he succeeded in living four
months amid tho pygmies and per.
suaded four men and two women Of
the tribe to accompany him 70
Europe.
Tho long journey has been aecomp.
lished by the six dwarfs In the face
Of . thousand difncultics. Colonel
Harrison and his protegcs were de-
eained at Khartoum and later Mt Cairo
tor several weeks. certain English
philanthropic societies having earnest.
" opposed their expatrIation. Tho ex.
plorer wns obliged to provo TO the
British Government that the dwarfs
were with him Voluntarily.
The six pygmles were Of course duly
measured BY the English authropoio.
gists ON their arrival In London. Their
mean height was Z fest inches for
men and I feet 1 inch for women.
Ths Congo Pygmies are very strong
and also bravo without being eencr.
ally aggressive, although Colonel Har.
rison reports that last winter, during
his stay In the forest Of Ituri, q party
oe pygmies attacked o Belgian cara.
van. killing seventeen carriers and
plundering the goods. They arc no
mnds. having neither fields nor houses,
and live only on game and wild fruits.
Their household utensils are limited
to . few carthen sauccpans. in which
they cook game without taking the
trouble to skin II. They eat tho skin
NJ well as the meat. even breaking the
bones with their tecth.
Arc Sons Of Nature.
They walk about completely un-
clothed. Only among the tribes that
live ON the confines Of the forest and
haye relations with tho negroes Of
greater stature. do tho women wear a
girdle of leaves.
Both the men and women shave the
head partially /: some cut straight paths
across their woody hair: others dress
II with birds feathers or squirrel
tails.
They have absolutely no religious m.
stincts and believe in neither God nor
devil. They generally practice polyg.
amy. As with the Chinese, the birth
Of q girl is regarded as q calamity.
Strangely enough, the young mothers
sometimes steal the newborn children
Of the neighboring tribes OF normal
stature. leaving their own babes In
exchange.
Last Of asCreat Race.
the Pygmis do not live 10 4
great age" said Col. Harrison. Life
II hard In the somber Congo forests;
nature Is a pitiless task.master to this
remnant Of the race that once peopled
the greater part Of Africa. The rain
| that falls In torrents for eight months
Transforms the ground into Q marsh.
II may be added that the pygmies
are remarkably intelligent, that they
appear to have the Gift Of language TO
m incredible degree. that they excel
In the art OF extracting iron from the
ore, Of forging II, and Of making arrow.
heads Of It without other tools than
round stones.