274 



THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND 



The most northern of 

 these Equatorial dwarfs is the 

 group described by Schweiu- 

 furtli and Junker. According 

 to those travellers, the height 

 of the men varies from 4 feet 

 1 inch to 4 feet 10 inches, 

 the average being estimated 

 at 4 feet 7 inches. This is 

 decidedly above the average 

 of the African pygmies, and 

 is taken as evidence that 

 this group has been altered 

 by intermarriage with the 

 Negroes. Emin Pasha, in 

 fact, regarded 4 feet 7 inches 

 as the maximum for a pure- 

 blooded pygmy. 



Their skin is of a dull 

 brown tint, something like 

 that of partially roasted 

 coffee. Their hair is woolly, 

 but so short that it cannot 

 be twisted into a chignon 

 like that of the neighbouring 

 Monbuttu. The head is large 

 and out of proportion to the 

 weak, thin neck on which it 

 is supported. The arms are 

 long and thin. " The look 

 of the Akka from behind is 

 very singular, their body 

 seeming then to form a 

 curve so regular and defined that it is almost like a letter S." The structure of the head, 

 according to Schweinfurth, is strikingly like that of the Bushmen. The leading resem- 

 blances between them are "the snout-like projection of the jaw, with an unprotruding chin, 

 and the rude skull, which is almost spherical, and has a deep indentation at the base 

 of the nose." This group of Akka have acquired their dress and many customs, such as 

 circumcision, from the adjacent Negro tribes; and as their height is above the average of 

 the dwarfs, they are probably not so pure as the smaller and less altered Akka discovered 

 by Stanley farther to the south. They retain, however, their mental characteristics, for 

 Schweiufurth tells us that "in acuteness, dexterity, and it must be added in cunning, the 

 Akka far surpass the Monbuttu. They are a nation of hunters. The cunning, however, 

 which they display is but the outward expression of an inner impulse which seems to 

 prompt them to find a delight in wickedness. Nsewue [Dr. Schweiufurth's Akka boy] was 

 always fond of torturing animals, and took a special pleasure in throwing arrows at the 

 dogs by night. During the period in which we were involved in war, and while my servants 

 were almost beside themselves with anxiety, nothing afforded him greater amusement than to 

 play with the heads that had been severed from the slain Abanga; and when I boiled 

 some of the skulls his delight knew no bounds ; he rushed about the camp shouting 

 ' Bakinda ' (a derisive nickname) 'nova? Bakinda he he koto!' (' Where is Bakinda? Bakinda 

 is in the pot ! ')." 



Sij permission of Messrs. Newton de Co., 3, Fleet Street, E. C, 

 A MALAGASI GIRL. 



