394 report— 1879. 



finely shaped ; they have small mouths, and thin lips. The whole contour of the 

 face is well designed. The author spoke of another race, a little further south, 

 who, in the cultivation of their lands, were so far advanced as to avail themselves 

 of irrigation. 



3. On the Native Races of Gaboon and Ogowe. 

 By the Comte Savokgnan De Beazza. 



This was a verbal communication in French, on the races which the author had 

 visited. He explained that the practice of cannibalism had been greatly exagge- 

 rated in descriptions of these peoples. He threw discredit on Du Chaillu's stories 

 of human flesh being exposed for sale in the villages, and of the dead from disease 

 being sold for food. They only partook of the flesh of their enemies killed in war, 

 and it was part of their religious belief that to e'at the heart of a brave would 

 increase their own valour. These maligned tribes were capable of the most gene- 

 rous sentiments, and in the case of the author, not only did they show no desire to 

 eat him, but they had shown him a devotion to which he owed his life. One day, 

 when his escort failed him and he himself fell sick, he was befriended by a Fan 

 chief, who, to procure him succour, put himself in the power of a tribe with whom 

 he was at enmity. He went to the hostile tribe to seek help for the sick explorer 

 whom he had left in the bush. The astonished hostile tribe were incredulous, and 

 feared an ambush. The Fan chief, determined to stick by his European friend, 

 offered himself as a hostage until the escort should return, and, by reason of some 

 delay in their return, was near forfeiting the life he had thus put in peril. The 

 author also gave an account of a pigmy race — the Akas — who are not attached to 

 any place, but are a wandering people. 



4. Report of the Anthropometric Committee. See Reports, p. 175. 



MONDAY, AUGUST 25. 



The following Papers were read : — 



1. On the Forms and Geographical Distribution of Ancient Stone Implements 

 in India. By V. Ball, M.A., of the Geological Survey of India. 



In continuation of some remarks made on this subject at the last meeting of 

 the Association iu Dublin, 1 the author gave an account of the results at which he 

 had since arrived from an examination of all the available data. These are, that 

 the three classes into which the stone implements may be grouped occupy inde- 

 pendent geographical tracts, which overlap one another towards the centre of the 

 peninsula. 



The geographical tracts, &c, characterised by the prevalence of one or other of 

 the particular forms, when laid down on a map, show a remarkable coincidence 

 with the limits of the areas of distribution of the non-Aryan races belonging to the 

 several families whose waves of migration have contributed to form the lower 

 strata of the population. 



Thus the manufacturers of the polished celts are probably identical with the 

 Kolarian races who entered India from the north-east and Burmah. 



On the other hand the manufacturers of the flakes and cores of flint, chert, &c, 

 appear to have entered the peninsula from the uorth-west, and may have belonged 

 to the Dra vidian family. 



1 Report for 1878, p. 588. 



