54 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



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ber of the words of tlieir ancestral vocabulary; and that they 

 have retained and make use of their original idioms. Of course, 

 many English words have crept in, but these are so commingled 

 with their native speech that their meaning is utterly lost unless 

 one is familiar with the peculiar jxitois that these diminutive 

 individuals make use of. Captain Ellis, of course, has reference 

 to one particular colony, that near Charleston, S. C. In Louisiana 

 these negritos use words borrowed from the French, but so cor- 

 rupted that it would be diffi- 

 cult for the most expert phi- 

 lologist to trace out their 

 derivation and meaning. 



Crossing has done much 

 toward obliterating the pure 

 type, many of these little peo- 

 ple having only their under- 

 sized bodies and brachyce- 

 phalic heads to indicate their 

 origin ; and, whenever there 

 is a strain of negrito blood 

 in an individual, he is very 

 apt to possess one or both of 

 these striking characteris- 

 tics. I have examined a num- 

 ber of these half-breeds and 

 have invariably found them 

 round-headed and of short 

 stature. In some localities, 

 however, the pure type is 

 very prevalent, and one may 

 see the full-blooded negrito who possesses all the distinguishing 

 features of his African or Asiatic brother. Such is the individ- 

 ual whom I have chosen to illustrate this paper. He was born in 

 Bayou la Teche, La., of negrito parents, if his description of them 

 is correct, and came to Kentucky with his " ole mistiss " when 

 about fifty years old. He is four feet nine inches tall, and is 

 perfectly proportioned. A glance at his photograph will show 

 that his feet, notwithstanding the fact that they are covered by 

 rough and unsightly brogans, are small and well made. His 

 hands, although somewhat knotted by rheumatism and hard 

 work, still show traces of their former slimness and delicate out- 

 line. His skin presents the characteristic texture of the full- 

 blooded negrito, feeling like velvet to the touch, and is covered 

 by a soft and downy fell. I have known him intimately for 

 years, and have never detected the slightest odor emanating from 

 liis person. Finally, he is decidedly brachycephalic, and slightly 



American Negrito. Bayou la Teche, La. 



