Evening star., 1925-06-07

light of day outside of prison walls.
Upon these men who try to escape
xhe punishment is ruthless. They are
pylt back into the prison, and there
they stay until the end.
Ehis old man, a Burmese and Il
woodsman who knew the stars, had
brawed the cyclone-swept Bay of Ben
gal IN a canoe he had burned out Of p
log. He was picked up three-quarters
of theNWay to safety, padding gamely
on, though half dead from exposure
and thirSt.
Indeed few of the nnurderers ever
escape, despite their freedom from
guards and prison walls. If they try
the sea. an upturned canoe marks
their end. Ia they try the forest they
are usually found with an arrow in
their backs. But sometimes they are
never heard OF again, and only the
jungle pygmies can tell how they died.
In all the yeaxs the English have
lived on the AnSamans. they have
never been able TO do anything with
the Jawaras. as IL oailed the tribe of
the Anda manese dwaQs On this prison
Island These pygmfes resist both
force and Kindness. Just before We ar
rived punitive expedition had been
out after them. as the result of a raid,
and had spent three miserable weeks
In the jungle without even coming in
contact with them.
/ became tremendously Interested in
these pygmfes, for l learned that thev
were among the most primitive of ali
humans. If 1t is true, as some anthro-
biologists believe, that life first came
into being in southern Asia, then these
little aborigines may be forerunners of
mankind; for il is proba bile that thev
inhabited this part of the world be-
fore the migration swept down from
southern Asia and obliterated all
traces of them except in three remote
localities.
In two Of these. one wild spot in
the Philippines, and the other a dis
tr1ct in the central part OF the Malay
Peninsula, they have lost many OF
their original traits by contacts with
other peoples. On the Andaman
Islands alone have they remained iso-
lated.
lTHOUGH no contact can be made
with the Andama nese who live
on the lslan Of Port Blair. occasion
ally some of the wild little fellows
from some Of the other islands paddle
up TO a spot miles from the prison.
where the British have had hut
erected for them
A few years ago. before the British
gave up in despair of ever civilizinc
them, the little forester whom | had
met in the club had been the officer
charged with attempting negotiations
With him went TO this hut, and was
lucky enough 10 find several families
A half dozen were standing at the Wa
! Ter eoSe when our launch chugged
up.
/ thought at first that the reports of
their smallness had been exaggerated
but as we stepped ashore. / realized
| that they are indeed dwarfs-so per
fectly formed, however. that it was
not until / stood beside them that |
realized how small.
one of the tiny women, NOT more
| than feet inches in height. caught
my attention Immediately. She had
what appeared to be a huge vFifs
ornament hanging about her neck. I
went closer and almost Jumped with
astonishment. The ornament was
CHASTITY human skull. white and grin
ming against her bare black breasts.
The forester laughed. The women
wear the skulls of their dead husbands
as loving souvenirs" he said. And
then he told US how. when a man dies.
the little people blow on his face To
say goodbye, bury him and then de.
sert the camp in which they are
living.
After several months thev come
back, dig up the bones and wash them
in the sea. Finally they hold a dance
/ in honor of the dead mans skull. paint
| 1t with red ocher and white clay and
| give it and the jaw bones TO the chief
mourners, who wear them hung
about their necks on fiber strings. like
! huge stones on necklace
| Another woman Sau- ScY,a,.;r-
on the ground, apparently examining
her child's arm. But when We went
| forward TO see her, she was cutting a
| row of little cuts around 1.-THE BOYS
| body was covered with rows of scars
| The Andamanese believe that every
child is born with evil spirits within
| him. SO the mother every two or
| three months lets the spirits escape
| through these cuts. AS a result all
| the men and women have their entire
bodies covered with scars.
= <
! A T the request of our forester. the
/ Andamanese held a mock mar
| riage ceremony. Two who had re-
Gently been married acted as the bride
| ana groom There was a dancH then
| the young man pretended TO fiee into
| the jungle. The other men ran after
| him. bringing him back TO where the
| bride was sitting on the ground. sur
| rounded by the women.
! With loud shouts, the men plur1ned
the lad down in the girls lap. and
all. men and women alike. threw
themselves on top of the bride and
| groom. like foot ball players on loose
| ball. weeping and wailing as IL in
| mortal grief. From so yards away
the bridal party looked like a huge
| black ball
Standing near this marriage hail
was girl, her body covered with long
zigzag designs in white. She refused
| to enter into the fun. The forester
| explained that she was debutante
as her paintings showed. and that
marriage was much too important an
affair for her to enter into a sport
about it
She had but lately received her
Flower name" Every pigmy girl
must be called after flower when
she natures into womanhood. She
passes through an elaborate three-day
| ceremony to receive this name, during
| which she is allowed neither TO eat
nor sleep.
At the end of that time a name is
selected for her after one of the Jungle
trees or plants in bloom at that time.
| to show that the girl herself has
bloomed into womanhood. Henceforth n
she is never known by her childhood
name. She is now a young lady of
very few social restrictions and con-
siderable influence.
But to my mind the stranEest
thing about these pigmy nomads Is
that they know no way of making
fire. Each family has fire Of their
Town, which they keep always going
| When they travel, they carry the fire
with them, thinking it a gift from
,t-I-