PYGMIES AND EOKEST NEGROES 



561 



The cephalic index, or the relation between the length and breadth of the cranium, 

 is 79 - 2, as compared with 74'4 in the male and 77"9 in the female Akka. This agrees- 

 with the index 78'7 derived from measurements of living Bambute, and may serve 

 to indicate affinity with the short brachycephalic peoples of French Congo described 

 by numerous French observers. Some skulls of this type were sent to the British 

 Museum from the Fernand Vaz by Du Chaillu, and were described by the late 

 Professor Owen in an appendix to the former author's narrative. The vertical indices 

 are as follows : — 



The prognathism, clearly indicated by the gnathic or alveolar index of Flower, 

 is a feature in which it resembles the Akkas and is widely separated from the 

 Bushmen ; the latter, however, are also prognathous, according to other methods 

 of investigation. 



Bambute 

 Akka, S 

 Akka, ? 



107-4 

 1087 

 104-3 



Bushmen, <$ 

 Bushmen, $ 

 Adamanese, J 1 



101-5 



99-2 



102-0 



Prognathism seems to be a marked feature of all skulls from the Congo district 

 as contrasted with those of other Negro tribes. 



. 10P4 



. 100-0 



. 100-4 



. 100-5 



The face is short, inclined to broadness, with malar bones less prominent than 

 might have been expected ; the naso-malar index of Oldfield Thomas is 111 '6, as 

 compared with 108 in the Akka, 106 in the Mahbettu, and 107 in the South Africa 

 Bush race. Whether or no this is a racial character cannot be decided from one 

 specimen, which may be abnormal in this respect, but the feature cannot well have 

 been derived from neighbouring peoples, who present the following average indices : 

 Nyam-Nyam, 106 ; Bantu of the Upper Congo, 106'8 ; Bantu of the lake district, 107 "5. 

 A study of the measurements of living Bambute suggests that in reality the face is 

 more flattened than would appear from this individual. 



The orbits are short and broad, the index, 82'5, being practically coincident with 

 that of the Akkas. The interorbital space is wide and flattened, though not nearly 

 to the extent met in the Bushmen. The nose is short and broad, the aperture large 

 and pyriform, the nasal spine poorly marked, and the maxillary border characterised 

 by simian grooves. The nasal bones are flattened from above downwards, and from 

 side to side, so that there is but little bridge to the nose. The indices are contrasted 

 in the following table : — 



