The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1921-12-01
idea DIES HARD
Still Strong Belief In Mysterious
White Tribes.
Probably Born Of That Mystery That
Surrounds the UnexpIored Por.
tions Of the Earth.

For many centuries there has ex-
listed In the minds Of many civilized
peoples curious fascination with ref
erence to the idea that in remote parts
Of the tropics, amid the dark-skinned
races, there flourish mysteriously iso-
lated white tribes bearing strong
resemblance to the civilized branches
Of the Caucasian race.
The early adventures in Central and
South America brought home many
tales of extraordinary cities beyond the
mountains, and vague stories afioat
in South Africa As years ago fur
nished Rider Haggard with theme
for one of his novels.
Legends like these are met in al
most all the less explored regions Of
the world, and they have always GER
tain features in common. The iso-
lated white people almost invariably
inhabit a mountainous region in q
vague interior, always "just beyond;
they hold aloof from the surrounding
races; they are seldom seen, and yet
are definitely stated to be more CIV
,ilized and better educated than the
darker masses whom they avoid.
Who they are and whence they came
no one knows; native fables afford no
explanation. Once 1t was thought
that forgotten white explorers might
have built up unknown Kingdoms in
the wild places Of the earth, but upon
examination these theories vanish as
rapidly as do the white tribes them
selves, and the ultimate explanation ts
almost prosaic.
Yet so strong a hold has the idea
gained that even in the beginning OF
the Twentieth century the possibility
of the existence of genuine white
races has not been altogether scoffed
at. Less than twenty years ago an
American officer engaged in the oper.
ations against the Moros In the Phil
ippines collected apparently substan-
tial evidence relating to mysterious
white tribe In the islands of Mindanao.
The mountainous district In tht center
Of this island has never been explored
and even the coast Is not well known.
But along the seaboard many stories
are told Of the fierce white people who
have their home in the forest-clad
mountains Of the interior. Eyewit-
nesses depose to having seen strange,
fair-complexioned girl, who fed to-
ward the hills as soon as she was
addressed. Other men and women OF
a light.complexioned race are said to
have been seen by more venturesome
natives, who were bold enough to
approach the wild mountain district
The American officer was 30 impressed
that he determined to conduct an ex-
ploring expedition across the center
Of the island. But apparently the
mysterious white race had vanished,
for the world has as yet heard moth
ing Of his search being crowned with
success.
Arabia, however, can with more rea-
son boast Of a white tribe. For years
stories Of such a race have been told
In the Persian gulf, and an American
missionary stationed at Muscat alluded
some years ago to "coffee house bab-
BILE in eastern Oman concerning a
mysterious race Of ught-complexioned
people who live somewhere in the
mountains, shun strangers and speak
language all their own."
Various theories have been pro-
pounded to explain the fable, but prob
ably the explanation is to be found In
the narrative Of a journey made to
Oman in 1876 by Col. S. B. Miles,
British officer. Colonel Miles in the
course Of his travels came across a
town named Sheraizi, in the heart of
the Green mountains. The strange
place was perched like an eagles nest
on the top Of great cliff, and was
inhabited by people Of lighter skin
than the rest Of the tribes In the
interior. They rarely descended to the
plains and refused to mix with or In
termarry with the Arabs. =
Colonel Miles found that they were
descendants of portion Of the Per-
sian army that invaded Oman in the
Fifth century. The isolation Of the
town and the curious behavior OF Its
people gave rise to exaggerated stories
In the bazaars on the distant coast.