The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1910-10-12
A Race Of pwarfs.

Dwarfs have furnished themes for
countless romances They divide with
giants the interest Of thousand nursery
tales. To no small extent the domain
OF superstition is invaded BY them.
All countries, more or less, are infested
by gnomes and COLLINS They appeal
to the imagination, and connected with
them there is always at least a sugges-
ton of the supernatural,
Nevertheless, the accounts of the pig.
mics given by Herodotus and Others had
Icing been set down as purely fctional
when they were rediscovered by Schwein-
furth. He found that the men averaged
about four feet six inches in height,
while the women were three or four
inches shorter Their color was like
that of coffee slightly roasted;" their
legs were short their hands very small,
end their stomach huge. They had a
habit of leaping about in the high her
bage like grasshoppers," and one of
them, purchased by the explorer, was to
such an extent subject to this incina-
ton, that he could never learn to carry
a plate without spilling more or less Of
the contents.
Measurements made by Stanley
showed that four feet six inches was
about the maximum height Of the
dwarfs, some Of whom were not more
than three feet in stature. full
grown man might weigh as much as
ninety pounds Scattered over region
about two thirds the size of Scotland,
they live in the uncleared forest, and
maintain themselves by hunting. They
are called Aka, or Batwa.
They are fierce little folk, and, though
they have no weapons save bows aud
spears, their warlike disposition and
poisoned arrows make them greatly
dreaded as enemies. One Of these ar
rows will kill an elephant with as much
certainty as a bone smashing rife bull
let, and a mere prick will bring death
to man in few minutes. The pigmy
warrior always carriers in a small leath-
er bottle hanging to his belt a supply Of
the poison which is said to be obtained
by macerating the bodies af ants of
certain venomous species.
the first pigmy seen by Stanley in
Africa was a young woman, only thirty
hHAGt AHNAfNH Ahtis Nth PSiANAbi9 tblHihAf
and Of a glistening sickness Of body"
She appeared to be about seventeen years
old, and her complexion was that Of
quadroon, or the color Of yellow ivory,
Her eyes were magnificent, but absurd
y large for so small creature almost
as big as those Of gazelle, and extreme
IL lustrous." Though absolutely nude,
she was entirely self-possessed.
The little people wherever they now
exist in the world are passing away,
and before very long the last of them
will have disappeared There are only
a few thousand Of them left in Africa.
A few thousand more are still to be
found in the Philippines and elsewhere.
In the forests Of the mountainous in
terror of India some tribes Of them are
said to linger, their small size and prim-
tive mode of life obtaining for them the
name of monkey men, Their final
departure is inevitable A pity, too, it
seems; for, although the pigmies cannot
be regarded ais important contributors
t. the welfare and progress OF mankind,
they furnish a most interesting and pic
memorial OF the ancient past
Of the human race From The Passing
Of the Pigmies," by Rene Bache in Tech
meal World Magazine for October.