Akka

“ Akka said no more, and after Smirre had sent up a few more yowls, all was still. The boy lay all the while awake. Now it was Akka's words to the fox that prevented him from sleeping. Never had he dreamed that he should hear anything so great as that anyone was willing to risk life for his sake. From that moment, it could no longer be said of Nils Holgersson that he did not care for anyone. ”

“ Glancing through a cleft I caught sight again of the far end of the bridge; noted among the clustered figures of its garrison of the frog-men a movement, a flashing of green fire like marshlights on spear tips; wondered idly what it was, and then, other thoughts crowding in, followed along, head bent, behind the pair who had found in what was Olaf's hell, their true paradise.
[1] The Akka are viviparous. The female produces progeny at five-year intervals, never more than two at a time. They are monogamous, like certain of our own Ranidae. ”

“ The upper limbs are long, and the hands, according to Schweinfurth, are singularly delicate. The lower limbs are short, relatively to the trunk, and curve in somewhat, the feet being bent in too, which gives the Akka a topheavy, tottering gait. There is a tendency to steatopygia among the women. The Akka are nomads, living in the forests, where they hunt game with poisoned arrows, with pitfalls and springs set everywhere, and with traps built like huts, the roofs of which, hung by tendrils only, fall in on the animal. ”

“ So far it had not occurred to him that he was of another species than the geese, but he could not help noting a number of things that surprised him, and he questioned Akka constantly.
"Why do grouse and lemming run and hide when they see my shadow on the cliff?" he queried. "They don't show such fear of the other goslings."
"Your wings grew too big when you were on the cliff," said Akka. "It is that which frightens the little wretches. But don't be unhappy because of that. You'll be a fine bird all the same."
After the eagle had learned to fly, he taught himself to fish, and to catch frogs. ”

“ The home of the Akka is the dense forest zone of the Aruwimi district of the Congo State. They form a branch of the primitive pygmy negroid race. and appear to be divided into groups, each with its own chief. Of all African ``dwarfs'' the Akka are believed the best representatives of the ``little people'' mentioned by Herodotus. Giovanni Miani, the Italian explorer who followed Schweinfurth, obtained two young Akka in exchange for a dog and a calf. These, sent to Italy in 1873, were respectively 4 ft. ”

“ Larry looked at them with interest.
"You surely have those things well trained, Lakla," he said.
"Things!" The handmaiden arose, eyes flashing. "You call my Akka things!"
"Well," said Larry, a bit taken aback, "what do you call them?"
"My Akka are a people," she retorted. "As much a people as your race or mine. They are good and loyal, and they have speech and arts, and they slay not, save for food or to protect themselves. And I think them beautiful, Larry, beautiful!" She stamped her foot. "And you call them things!" ”

“ That's a human being, Herr Ermenrich."
Finally the stork put the boy down entirely unhurt. Thereupon he said to Akka, "I'll fly back to Glimminge castle now, mother Akka. All who live there were very much worried when I left. You may be sure they'll be very glad when I tell them that Akka, the wild goose, and Thumbietot, the human elf, are on their way to rescue them." With that the stork craned his neck, raised his wings, and darted off like an arrow when it leaves a well-drawn bow. Akka understood that he was making fun of her, but she didn't let it bother her. ”

“ Setting aside, however, this diversity with regard to the eyes, the heads of the Akka and the Bushmen will be found to present various points of similarity in other respects. The Akka are distinguished from all other nations of Central Africa by the huge size of the ear. Now, however small, in an æsthetic sense, the negroes’ pretensions to any beauty may ordinarily be supposed to be, it must be conceded that they can vie with any race whatever in the elegance and symmetrical shape of their ears ”

“ Akka breathed quickly before she answered.
"There's a little matter I should have mentioned to you before this, but since you are not going back to your home for good, I thought there was no hurry about it. Still it may as well be said now."
"You know very well that I am always glad to do your bidding," said the boy.
"If you have learned anything at all from us, Thumbietot, you no longer think that the humans should have the whole earth to themselves," said the wild goose, solemnly. ”

“ They led them all in wisdom so that in the Three grew—pride. And the Three built them this place in which we sit and set the Portal in its place and withdrew from their kind to go alone' into the mysteries and to map alone the facets of truth jewel.
"Then there came here the ancestors of the Akka; tribes of them, not as they are now, and glowing but faintly within them the spark of—self-realization. And the Taithu seeing this, did not slay them. But they took the ancient, long untrodden paths and looked forth once more upon earth face. ”

“ The ladala are ready to rise when Lugur and Yolara lead their hosts against us. They will strike at those left behind. And in the meantime we shall have disposed my Akka to meet Yolara's men. And on that disposal we must all take counsel, you, Larry, and Rador, Olaf and Goodwin and Nak, the ruler of the Akka. ”

“ He was out of sorts because he shouldn't see the crane dance, and he just couldn't say a word, either to the goosey-gander, or to any of the others.
It was pretty hard that Akka should still doubt him. When a boy had given up being human, just to travel around with a few wild geese, they surely ought to understand that he had no desire to betray them. ”

“ At the end of the coria road where the giant fern-land met the edge of the cavern's ruby floor, hundreds of the Akka were stationed in ambush, armed with their spears tipped with the rotting death and their nail-studded, metal-headed clubs. These were to attack when the Murians debouched from the corials. We had little hope of doing more here than effect some attrition of Yolara's hosts, for at this place the captains of the Shining One could wield the Keth and their other uncanny weapons freely. ”

“ I may further remark that their resemblance to the equatorial Pygmies is in many points very striking. Gustav Fritsch, the author of a standard work upon the natives of South Africa, first drew my attention to the marked similarity between my portraits of the Akka and the general type of the Bushmen, and so satisfied did I become in my own mind, that I feel quite justified (in my observations upon the Akka) in endeavoring to prove that all the tribes of Africa, whose proper characteristic is an abnormally low stature, belong to one and the self-same race. ”

“ There is usually a way out of all difficulties, if only one can find it.
I shall be interested to see what success you have."
VERMLAND AND DALSLAND Wednesday, October fifth.
To-day the boy took advantage of the rest hour, when Akka was feeding apart from the other wild geese, to ask her if that which Bataki had related was true, and Akka could not deny it. The boy made the leader-goose promise that she would not divulge the secret to Morten Goosey-Gander. The big white gander was so brave and generous that he might do something rash were he to learn of the elf's stipulations. ”

“ But Akka had evidently made up her mind to help the black rats. She called Iksi from Vassijaure, and ordered him to take the wild geese over to Vonib Lake; and when the geese made excuses, she said authoritatively: "I believe it will be best for us all that you obey me. I must fly over to the big stone house, and if you follow me, the people on the place will be sure to see us, and shoot us down. The only one that I want to take with me on this trip is Thumbietot. He can be of great service to me because he has good eyes, and can keep awake at night." ”

“ The race of dwarfs does not differ materially from surrounding tribes, except in size. They have a redder or brighter complexion, and reports of travellers vary in regard to the growth of the hair. The Niam-niam, however, uniformly represent the Pygmies as having long beards, and yet Schweinfurth never found this characteristic in any of the Akka who came under his notice.
The head of the Akka is disproportionately large and is balanced on a weak, thin neck. The upper portion of the body is long; the chest being flat and much contracted, widens out in the lower part, to support the huge belly. ”

“ Schweinfurth saw a good many hunters and soldiers of the Akkas, a tribe of negroes occupying a region which he was unable to visit. He succeeded in obtaining one of these curious people, and brought him down the Nile, but, unfortunately, he died at Berber, on his way to Cairo. The Akkas are probably the smallest people of Central Africa, and are sometimes mentioned as a race of pygmies."
AN AKKA WARRIOR.
"Perhaps they are the nation of dwarfs, instead of the Nyam-Nyams," Frank observed.
"They are certainly more entitled to the name than their neighbors," was the reply. ”

“ You, especially, Goodwin, who worship wisdom."
"Then," said Larry, "we have the Akka; and we have the four men of us, and among us three guns and about a hundred cartridges—an'—an' the power of the Three—but what about the Shining One, Fireworks—"
"I do not know." Again the indecision that had been in her eyes when Yolara had launched her defiance crept back. "The Shining One is strong—and he has his—slaves!"
"Well, we'd better get busy good and quick!" the O'Keefe's voice rang. But Lakla, for some reason of her own, would pursue the matter no further. ”

“ The joints of the legs are angular and projecting, except that the knees are plump and round. Unlike other Africans, who ordinarily walk with their feet straight, the Akka turn them somewhat inward. I hardly know how to describe their waddling; every step they take is accompanied by a lurch that seems to affect all their limbs alike; and Nsewue could never manage to carry a full dish for any distance without spilling at least a portion of its contents. ”

“ The Akka would appear to be a branch of that series of dwarf races which, exhibiting all the characteristics of an aboriginal stock, extend along the equator entirely across [Pg 134] Africa. Whatever travellers have penetrated far into the interior of the continent have furnished abundant testimony as to the mere fact of the existence of tribes of singularly diminutive height; whilst their accounts are nearly all coincident in representing that these dwarf races differ in hardly anything from the surrounding nations excepting only in their size. ”

“ But you see that the gray rats have stayed at home; and now they are mustering to storm the castle to-night, when it will be defended by only a few old creatures who are too feeble to go over to Kullaberg. They'll probably accomplish their purpose. But I have lived here in harmony with the black rats for so many years, that it does not please me to live in a place inhabited by their enemies."
Akka understood now that the stork had become so enraged over the gray rats' mode of action, that he had sought her out as an excuse to complain about them. ”

“ Lakla glanced behind.
"Walk with us," she said to me, "unless you are still weak."
I shook my head, gave a last look at O'Keefe; there was nothing I could do; I stepped beside her. She thrust a white arm into mine protectingly, the wonderfully chiseled hand with it long, tapering fingers catching about my wrist; my heart glowed toward her.
"Soon we walk no more," she said. "When the Portal called, we sped back, my Akka and I, leaving the bearers behind. They wait for us, not far ahead. Are you strong enough?" ”

“ From its peril we pass into another against whose dangers I can guard you. But in parts this is in view of the roadway and it may be that Lugur will see us. If so we must fight as best we can; if we pass these two roads safely, then is the way to the Crimson Sea clear nor need we fear Lugur nor any. And there is another thing that Lugur does not know. When he opens the Portal the Silent Ones will hear and Lakla and the Akka will be swift to greet its opener.
"Rador," I asked, "how know you all this?" ”

“ In short, the Akkals are a sort of domestic hermits, although they may, and do, own private property, and practise all the various callings in life like any other men. The fact of belonging to the initiated class does not give them emoluments of any kind, nor any decided rank among their fellow Druses, except in matters of religion; although, as a general rule, most respected men of their nation are Akkals. ”

“ In fact, it has been thought that Agade-Akkad was situated opposite Sippar on the left bank of the Euphrates, and was probably the oldest part of the city of Sippar.
In the Assyro-Babylonian literature the name Akkadū appears as part of the royal title in connexion with Sumer; viz. non-Semitic: lugal Kēngi (ki) Uru (ki) = šar mât Šumeri u Akkadī, “king of Sumer and Akkad,” which appears to have meant simply “king of Babylonia.” ”

“ Our route did not admit of our taking a straight line through the land of the Akkas, a tribe of dwarfs whom Delange, now converted into an enthusiastic explorer, was very anxious to see. But we marched along their western frontier, and, as the inhabitants of this region are tributaries, as well as allies, of Munza, we made the acquaintance of a number of specimens of this curious race of pygmies. ”