Robert Murray Leslie

“ Consideration of the distribution and general characteristics of the existing pygmy races-Negrilloes and Negritoes-has induced many anthropologists to conclude that we are dealing with the but little modified descendants of an extremely ancient race—the ancestors possibly of all the negro tribes. ”

“ Their clothing is chiefly conspicuous by its absence. The African pygmies go about, for the most part, quite naked, except for the occasion presence of a small covering over the pudenda, the men wearing a small piece of deer-skin, and the women one or two bunches of -green leaves, which they renew daily. The resemblance to the traditional fig-leaf covering is obvious. The Andamanese wear practically no clothing. The Karons of New Guinea wear a few strips of bark dangling from a string round the loins. The Negrilloes seldom, if ever, tattoo their body. ”

“ They are wonderful mimics, and have a marked sense of humour, making witty remarks which set the others off into peals of laughter. They are as a rule bright and cheerful in disposition, will sometimes fly into sudden fits of ill temper and as quickly recover their good humour. ”

“ There is no trace of spirit or ancestor worship. The Andaman Islanders have a vague belief in a sort of god—“Püluga”—an invisible being who lives in a large stone house in the sky, and who made all things. They also believe in an evil one, to whom they attribute sickness and death. ”

“ If this View be correct, it seems probable that the members of the pygmy races are the existing human beings which most closely resemble primitive man. On the other hand, there are those who regard the pygmies as a retrograde and degenerative type of the negro race and therefore of comparatively recent growth. ”

“ The dead are buried in graves, the chief's wives being sometimes killed and buried along with him.
The African pygmies have little if any belief in life after death. They say death is the end of everything. ”

“ They are most daring hunters, and marvellously skilful archers. Though of small size they are well made and agile, and are able to dart in and out with the greatest of ease amongst the tall tangled vegetation of the tropical woodlands. The Batwa, from the south of the Congo, successfully attack elephants, shooting them with their tiny poisoned arrows. The poison is obtained from the juice of certain plants, and also from decaying animal matter derived from the putrefaction of ants. The Andaman pygmies live exclusively by hunting and fishing. ”

“ If we regard, as many authorities do, the Indo-African continent, submerged in comparatively, recent geological times by the waters of the Indian Ocean, as being the original home of primitive man, then it is easy to understand how he migrated from the subsiding Indo-African continent westward into the heart of Africa, and eastward to the Malay Peninsula by way of the Eastern Archipelago, at that time forming part of the mainland. Those members of the primitive race who migrated westward are supposed to have spread over the larger portion of the continent of Africa. ”

“ The distribution of the Asiatic pygmies is mainly Oceanic. The following are the three principal tribes. (1) The Aëtas (Philippine Islands) . The name “Aëtas” is derived from the Malay word hitam, meaning black. These little folk dwell in small groups in the interior of Luzon Island, and are to be met with also in the islands of Mindoro, Panay and Negros, and in the north-east of Mindanoa. The total number of Philippine Negritoes is about 20,000. (2) The Andamanese (Andaman Islands) . These live in isolated groups of fifty to eighty persons. ”

“ There is great affection between the husband and the wife and be the parents and the children. The duration of life is short tween in the equatorial forests, death usually taking place before the age of forty. ”

“ They are fond of beads and other articles of adornment; the upper lips are often pierced with holes, through which quills are thrust. They cut their short curly hair into all sorts of fantastic patterns, and often twist some of it into peaks into which they plait feathers. ”

“ Sir Harry Johnston believes them to be the intellectual superiors of the big negroes. They exhibit vivacity and adroitness, quickness in picking up information and languages, and surprising readiness in grasping the salient points of a subject. ”

“ One of the six Mambute Negrilloes brought to England by Colonel Harrison in 1906 measured just over 31/2 ft. Individuals not exceeding 3 ft. are met with, though the midgets of one or two pygmai in height, whose existence is indicated in the early Greek writings, must be relegated to the realm of mythology. The Philippine Aetas measure 1·47 m., while the average height of the Sakai and Andamanese is 1·49 m.
The present writer estimated the weight of six adult Mambute pygmies (four males and two females) from the Ituri forest, and ound the average weight to be seventy-seven pounds. ”

“ The families are usually small, rarely exceeding three in number. There is great rejoicing when a boy is born, while the unlucky girl baby is beaten by her father with plantain leaves. The boys are often circumcised. ”