The Nezperce herald. (Nezperce, Idaho) 1900-1957, 1908-08-20

Or. Rudolf Pooh 60 Make study
OF a ni.nppenrlng Rnee.

Or. Rudolf Pooh 60 Make study
OF disappearing Race.
A letter received In Washington FROM
Or. Rudolf Pooh, the well known an,
thropologist. says
am about 70 start. under the aus
plces Of the Imperial Academy Of
Sciences OF Vienna. TO make a study
OF the Bushmen. The race Is rapidly
dying out. ana the sole purpose OF my
expedition is to add to our knowledge
OF this people i'esore they become ex-
tinct.
The fact has been recognized for
some years that this African race Is
destined 20 extinction. This is all the
more remarkable because everywhere
else the African races are more than
holding their own.
Pestilence. war. aud the evils that
the whites introduce are poweriess To
obliterate them. Africa IS growing
in native population.
But the Bushmen are now reduced
to a handful. and every year they
are dwlndling. Circumstances are too
hard for them. and it is not believed
they could be saved. even BY a change
in their conditions.
The Bushmen inhabit the great
desert Of South Africa. There Is no
running water. and yet among the
sand wastes there are depressions
where the natives find water BY dig
ging, and in places it comes So near
the surface that vegetation iourishes
and many animals find nurture In the
desert.
The Bushmen are only few inches
taller than the pygmles Of Central |
Africa. They live In rock caves or
in huts OF sticks and grass They sell
dom wear more than leather apron 70
protect their legs from thorns.
They subsist on the scant vegeta-
ton. on roots. and on the animals they
kill Clubs. bows and arrows. and a
few spears are their only weapons
They are primitive. but they do not
buy their wives; they have been faith
full to those whites who have befriend-
ed them. and they paint and draw IN
an astonishing manner. Much has
been written OF the thousands OF ami
nal paintings with which they adorn
the rocks and the walls OF their caves.
Why do they not abandon the desert
to which they are coninedf They
could not II they would They are
nemmed around by pastoral and agri-
cultural regions. all occupied by strong
.ribes, who Kill them like vermln II
hey venture across the line
II they were free TO leave the desert
{ Is doubtful II they would do so. for
hey are a hunting people. and such
RIDES have never voluntarily become
/ pastoral or an agricultural commu-
lity. Whenever cattle have been given
o the Bushmen they have killed
hem. for they VIII not herd them.
The whites have been even more
destructive OF the Bushmen than their
Iative enemies. Late IN the eighteenth
entury the Dutch used to shoot these
title people rs they would game. II
5 recorded that In the ten years end
az in 1875 the Dutch killed 2.4sO Bush
nen. d
They have always shrlInk from con L
act with civilization. and to-day. when "
hey see white protectorates planted b
Il around them. they are retreating b
lrther Into the desert. The whites o
re invading the more fertile valleys. b.
re stalking out ranches and building d
tile settlements. are killing OF the
anne that Is the hereditary food Of 81
le desert nomads. blowing the places IN
here the Bushmen 90 for berries and c.
Hble roots. and narrowing the area "a
which they can live "
They seem wholly unable to live un al
II new conditions. and the old con- 10
lions are passing away All who az
low them best say that their abso- b
te determination = question OF M
Ily few years Washington Post. Is