PYGMIES AND FOREST NEGROES 



529 



inches long — but in con- 

 versation w i t h these 

 Dwarfs, and with Belgians 

 who had visited their 

 count rv, I was assured 

 that Pygmy men often 

 grow quite considerable 

 beards. It was further 

 told to me that the 

 Pygmies I was able to 

 examine personally were 

 by no means as hairy 

 as other examples to be 

 met with further away 

 in the recesses of the 

 Congo Forest.* 



One physical feature 

 (already alluded to) 

 which is common to all 

 the Pygmies, whether 

 black or yellow, and is 

 peculiarly characteristic 

 of this group, is the 

 shape of the nose. There 

 is scarcely any bridge 

 to this organ, the end 

 of which is large and 

 flat ; but the remark- 

 able size of the wings 

 (the cartilage of the nose 

 above the nostrils), and 

 the fact that these wings 

 rise almost as high as the 

 central part of the nose, 

 differentiate the Pygmy 

 markedly from other 

 Negro physiognomies. 286 " A PTGMT W0MAN > MDLESE STOCK (SAME A 



Some of these Pygmies, it may be mentioned, come very near in stature 



* I would, however, advise my readers to be on their guard, and not to attach too 

 much importance to stories of very hairy Pygmies, or to lay too much stress on the 

 distinction between black-skinned and yellow-skinned Dwarfs, which seems to be the 

 result of individual, and not tribal, variation. 



