Annamites

“ Like the Annamites, the Stiêns wear the hair long, but twisted up, and fastened by a bamboo comb, with a pheasant’s crest on the top of a piece of brass wire by way of ornament. They are mostly of tall stature, strong, and well-limbed; with regular features, thick eyebrows, and a good forehead. Their hospitality is abundant, and a stranger, on his arrival, is immediately entertained with rice-wine, a pipe of [188] peace, and a fatted pig or fowl. Their dress is simplicity itself,—a long scarf about two inches wide ”

“ The Annan is a fair water in summer time, but I would not trust such a bonnie lass as the bride on its fickle bosom on a winter night.' 'An' I were you, bridegroom,' said another counsellor, 'I would lippen to the old proverb, "The nearest road to the bride's bed's the best." The bosom of the Annanwater is bound in ice as hard and as firm as iron—ye might drive Burnswark Hill over its deepest pools, providing it had four feet. ”

“ This island, as we may call it, is nearly covered with an enormous rock, which to this day is called Annawan's Rock. Its southeast side presents an almost perpendicular precipice, and rises to the height of twenty-five or thirty feet. The northwest side is very sloping and easy of ascent, being at an angle of not more than thirty-five or forty degrees. A more gloomy and hidden recess, even now, although the forest-tree no longer waves over it, could hardly be found by any inhabitant of the wilderness."
Annawan's retreat.
Employments of the Indians. ”

“ Wherever access to it can be had, we find it richly fossiliferous; but its organisms, with the exception of its Belemnites, are very imperfectly preserved. I dug up from under the trap-blocks some of the common Liasic Ammonites of the north-eastern coast of Scotland, a few of the septa of a large Nautilus, broken pieces of wood, and half-effaced casts of what seems a branched coral; but only minute portions of the shells have been converted into stone; here and there a few chambers in the whorls of an Ammonite or Nautilus, though the outline of the entire organism lies impressed in the shale ”

“ In spite of these complex interminglings the Annamese type is very uniform (Harmand) . The men are short in stature (1 m. 58) , with slender limbs, brachycephalic head (ceph. ind. 82.8) , of angular visage with prominent cheek-bones, and Mongoloid eyes.
The Annamese of Tong King are a little taller (1 m. 59) and darker than those of Cochin-China and Annam (height 1 m. 57) ; they have also a broader and flatter nose, the result perhaps of intermixture with the Thos mountaineers (p. 401) who live near them. [446] The social life of the Annamese is modelled on that of the Chinese ”

“ On the towering Andes, fifteen thousand feet above the tide-marks of the Pacific, the geologist finds sea-shells imbedded in the rock, and high above the snow-line the chamois-hunter of the Alps wonders at the sight of spirally-wound Ammonites that once enjoyed life at the bottom of the Liassic Sea. In strata of a more modern date, we find, on the banks of the river Senegal, far inland, large deposits of the Arca senilis, a mollusc still living on the neighbouring coast. ”

“ The geographical distribution of Ammonites in the ancient world, seems to have partaken of that universality, we find so common in the animals and vegetables of a former condition of our globe, and which differs so remarkably from the varied distribution that prevails among existing forms of organic life. We find, the same genera, and, in a few cases, the same species of Ammonites, in strata, apparently of the same age, not only throughout Europe, but also in distant regions of Asia, and of North and South America. ”

“ If Rönne had plenty of sewing, Nödtvedt had no less forging -- sledge-fittings, knives, pickaxes, bars and bolts, patent hooks by the hundred for dogs, chains, and so on to infinity. The clang and sparks of the anvil were going all day long till we were well into the Indian Ocean. And in the westerly belt the blacksmith's lot was not an enviable one; it is not always easy to hit the nail on the head when one's feet rest on so unstable a foundation as the Fram's deck, nor is it altogether pleasant when the forge is filled with water several times a day. ”

“ Making his way up Green bay, he finally reached the Menomonee river, its principal northern affluent. [53] [57]
In the valley of the Menomonee, Nicolet met a populous tribe of Indians—the Menomonees. [54] To his surprise, no doubt, he found they were of a lighter complexion than any other savages he had ever seen. Their language was difficult to understand, yet it showed the nation to be of the Algonquin stock. Their food was largely of wild rice, which grew in great abundance in their country. They were adepts in fishing, and hunted, with skill, the game which abounded in the forests. ”

“ The survivors fled northwards towards the mountains and high tablelands difficult of access, leaving the rich Delta plains in the hands of their conquerors. The numerous mountain tribes of to-day, known as the Muongs, Mans and Thos, which are to be found in the highlands of Annam and Tonquin, are most probably the descendants of the former owners of the country.
As a race they are superior both in physique and courage to the Annamese, although they do not possess the cunning and craftiness of this race. ”

“ We were camped close beside a great creek which reached the affluent of the Amazon, and along these creeks, as along the river proper, were gigantic serpents. The anaconda is as much at home on land as in water. Those big constrictors of the southern part of this great hemisphere are dreadful. They prey upon the deer and upon a thousand other things. They are a terror everywhere, and, though we did not know it at the time, there was concealed in that tree beneath which poor Alan was lying, a very healthy specimen of this powerful reptile. ”

“ So Fire tell his frien' Annancy (not knowing that Annancy an' Dry-grass was better friend) :—"Brother Annancy I going to burn that fellah Dry-grass to-morrow."
Annancy say:—"When you a go you fe call me a yard. I goin' to make one shell. When we nearly get to the place we blow, make the fellah know that man a come."
During this time Annancy make bargain with Water that any time he hear the shell blow him must come down like rain.
So Fire reach up an' as the shell blow he see rain coming down. ”

“ Very many children on the upper parts of the Amazons have this strange habit; not only Indians, but negroes and whites. It is not, therefore, peculiar to the famous Otomacs of the Orinoco, described by Humboldt, or to Indians at all, and seems to originate in a morbid craving, the result of a meagre diet of fish, wild-fruits, and mandioca-meal. We gave our little savage the name of Sebastian. The use of these Indian children is to fill water-jars from the river, gather fire-wood in the forest, cook, assist in paddling the montaria in excursions, and so forth. ”

“ He saw them stop by the nests of some flying ants. With their yam sticks they dug all round these ant holes. When they had successfully unearthed the ants they sat down, throwing their yam sticks on one side, to enjoy a feast, for these ants were esteemed by them a great delicacy.
While the sisters were busy at their feast, Wurrunnah sneaked up to their yam sticks and stole two of them; then, taking the sticks with him, sneaked back to his hiding-place. When at length the Meamei had satisfied their appetites, they picked up their sticks and turned towards their camp again. ”

“ And withal we find only three species of quadrupeds, and these small ones, thinly distributed along the skirts of the forest. In truth, the Andaman Islands and their fauna have long been a puzzle to the zoölogist.
But longer still, and to a far greater extent, have their human inhabitants perplexed the ethnologist; and here we arrive at the true peculiarity of the Andaman Islands,—that is to say, the people who inhabit them. With perhaps no exception, these people are the most truly savage of any on the face of the globe ”

“ It was a precisely similar piece of surface to that already mentioned to the south of 81o S., but full of small hummocks everywhere. The ground was apparently solid enough, and this was just the most dangerous thing about it; but, as they were crossing it, large pieces of the surface fell away just in rear of them, disclosing bottomless crevasses, big enough to swallow up everything -- men, dogs, and sledges. With some difficulty they got out of this ugly place by steering to the east. ”

“ The Anomia genus, instead of being devised by Linnæus, or Terebratula in particular, owing its invention to any modern writer, have been both so long established that the greatest difficulty is to determine where in the retrospect of authors our enquiries are to cease. Without proceeding further back than the last two centuries, it may be observed that Fabius Columna in his work “De Purpura,” published at Rome in the year 1616, speaks of the Anomiæ; he calls them Conchæ rariores Anomiæ, and from that period at least the term Anomia has been received among Naturalists. ”

“ The Andamanese, or Andamans, are of a jet-black colour. Their stature rarely exceeds four and a half to five feet. Their head is large, and sunken between the shoulders; their hair woolly; most of them are disfigured by protuberant stomach and meagre lower limbs. They go about in an absolute nudeness, for we cannot regard as any species of clothing the coat of clay or yellow ochre which they plaster over their bodies to protect them against the stings of insects; the red ochre which the earth supplies them they make use of to powder their hair and paint their face. ”

“ These benches are made of fine clay, in the form of sofas, and are handsomely coloured with clay of a different colour. It is here that they hold their palavers, all being seated around; the head man, or caboceer, is generally placed on a seat raised above the rest.
Although the soil in the neighbourhood of Annamaboe is excellent, yet it is very little cultivated; the natives chiefly depend upon the people in the woods for their corn and yams, vegetables and fruit, which are got in exchange for fish, a very plentiful article on the coast at certain seasons of the year. ”

“ It is incredible what a flock of these birds of prey can get rid of; it would not matter if the meat were frozen as hard as iron, they would have managed it, even if it had been a good deal harder than iron. Of the seals' carcasses we had lying in 80°, I saw in my thoughts nothing but the bones. Of the various dogs we had killed on our way south and laid on the tops of beacons I did not see even so much as that. ”

“ Their features are small and regular, and they do not possess the narrow eyes, flat noses, prominent cheek bones and enormous mouths of the Annamese. They are also taller, stronger, and present a much healthier appearance. ”

“ Two or three sharp limpet shells waved feathery seaweed fans.
A long time passed and the girls still lingered. They discovered that most of the pools boasted anemones, some not unlike an ordinary land daisy with light-colored tentacles stretching ray-shaped from a yellow centre. When touched with an empty shell, the anemone would close over it, folding both the shell and itself into a tight brown ball, then open slowly and drop the shell. ”

“ Annancy go. When him go he see a big he-goat, him beard was a yard long. Annancy catch the beard, lift him up t'row him a ground, take a big stick begin to beat him, give bup! bup! say:—"You b'ute! a you master nyam all me egg never give me so so one self."
Him beat him so till the goat form 'tiff dead. Now this was Tiger all the time. Annancy leave him gone to see if he can get any knife to cut him up.
By Annancy come back him don't see no goat, only a big old man standing up. Him put after him. Annancy run back to Tiger yard. The man was after him. Annancy see a gourdy, run right in it. ”

“ The purple sea anemone is very common on the southern shores of England, and one species, found on the shores of the Mediterranean, is said to be esteemed a great delicacy by the Italians. At night, or when alarmed, the animal draws in its arms, shuts the door, and seems but a rounded lump of flesh, a huge oyster without a shell. ”

“ However, it is safe to assert that the association between the stolid anemone and the painted fish—only an inch and a half long—is for their mutual welfare, the fish attracting microscopic food to its host. And why should one anemone greedily seize a fish, and another find pleasure in the companionship of one of the most beautiful and delicate of the tribe? ”

“ Within these limits, each formation is characterised by particular species, the number of individuals being often very great, and the size which is sometimes attained being nothing short of gigantic. In the Lias, particular species of Ammonites may succeed one another regularly, each having a more or less definite horizon, which it does not transgress. It is thus possible to distinguish a certain number of zones, each characterised by a particular Ammonite, together with other associated fossils. ”

“ He was well off for food, for whales were plentiful on the shores of the Bay, and seals, penguins, and gulls abounded. The expedition was well equipped, with eight explorers, four sledges, and thirteen dogs attached to each.
"Amundsen is a splendid leader, supreme in organisation, and the essential in Antarctic travel is to think out the difficulties before they arise." So said those who worked with him on his most successful journey.
Through dense fog and blinding blizzards the Norwegians now made their way south, their Norwegian skis and sledges proving a substantial help. ”