"Thus we made acquaintance with a people who have endeared themselves to
me more than any others of the children of Earth. The very weaknesses of
the Radack folk removed mistrust on our side; their very gentleness and
goodness caused them to be trustful towards us, the all-powerful
strangers; we became declared friends. I found among them simple,
unsophisticated manners, charm, natural grace, and the pleasant bloom
of modesty. In the matter, certainly, of strength and manly independence
the O-Waihier [Owyhees] are greatly their superiors. My friend, Kadu,
who, though not belonging to this island-group, attached himself to us,
was one of the finest characters I have ever met and one of the most
dear to me of human beings; and he afterwards became my instructor with
regard to Radack and the Caroline Islands."
+Adaptation of Early Peoples to Surroundings+
THE DINKAS (Central Africa): from Grogan's _Cape to Cairo_, p. 278.
(Hurst & Blackett, 1900.)
"Every one in Dinka-land carries a long spear, or pointed fish-spear,
and a club made of a heavy purple wood, while the more important
gentlemen wear enormous ivory bracelets round their upper arm; strict
nudity is the fashion, and a marabout feather in the hair is the essence
of _chic_. They are all beautifully built, having broad shoulders, small
waist, good hips, and well-shaped legs. The stature of some is colossal.
It was most curious to see how these Dinkas, living as they do in the
marshes, approximate to the type of the waterbird. They have much the
same walk as a heron, picking their feet up very high and thrusting them
well forward; while their feet are enormous. Their colossal height is
indeed a great advantage in the reed grown country in which they live.
The favourite pose of a Dinka (on one foot, with the other foot resting
on the knee) is in reality the favourite pose of a water bird.... They
are the complete antithesis of the pigmy, as the country in which they
live is the complete antithesis of the dense forest which is the home of
the dwarfs.... Our camp was near a large village where there were at
least 1,500 head of cattle, besides sheep and goats, and the chief
brought me a fine fat bull-calf--which settled the nervous question of
food for two days.... The rambling village with its groups of figures
and long lines of home-coming cattle, dimly seen in the smoke of a
hundred fires as I approached at sunset, was very picturesque."
THE PIGMIES: from _Cape to Cairo_, pp. 144 and 161.
"The pigmies have no settled villages, nor do they cultivate anything.
They live the life of the brute in the forests, perpetually wandering in
search of honey or in pursuit of elephant; when they succeed in killing
anything, they throw up a few grass shelters and remain there till all
the meat is either eaten or dried. They depend upon the other natives
for the necessary grain, which they either steal or barter for elephant
meat or honey. All their knives, spearheads and arrow-heads they
likewise purchase from other people, but they make their own bows and
arrows. So well are these made that they are held in great esteem by the
surrounding people." ... "An hour later I met an elderly pigmy in the
forest and managed to induce him to talk. He was a splendid little
fellow, full of self-confidence, and gave me most concise information,
stating that the white man with many belongings had passed near by two
days before, and had then gone down to the lake-shore, where he was
camped at that moment. These people must have a wonderful code of signs
and signals, as despite their isolated and nomadic existence they always
know exactly what is happening everywhere. He was a typical pigmy as
found on the volcanoes--squat, gnarled, proud, and easy of carriage. His
beard hung down over his chest, and his thighs and chest were covered
with wiry hair. He carried the usual pigmy bow made of two pieces of
cane spliced together with grass, and with a string made of a single
strand of a rush that grows in the forests. The pigmies are splendid
examples of the adaptability of Nature to her surroundings; the
combination of strength and conciseness enabling them to move with
astonishing rapidity in the pig-runs that form the only pathway through
the impenetrable growth, and to endure the fatigue of elephant-hunting."
NATIVES IN RUANDA (near Lake Kivu): _Cape to Cairo_, p. 118.
"Society in Ruanda is divided into two castes, the Watusi and the
Wahutu. The Watusi are the descendants of a great wave of Galla invasion
that reached even to Tanganyika. They still retain their pastoral
instincts, and refuse to do any other work than the tending of cattle;
and so great is their affection for their beasts, that rather than sever
company they will become slaves, and do the menial work of their beloved
cattle for the benefit of their conquerors. This is all the more
remarkable when one takes into account their inherent pride of race and
contempt for other peoples, even for the white man.... Many signs of
superior civilisation, observable in the peoples with whom the Watusi
have come into contact, are traceable to this Galla influence.
"The hills are terraced, thus increasing the area of cultivation, and
obviating the denudation of fertile slopes by torrential rains. In many
cases irrigation is carried out on a sufficiently extensive scale, and
the swamps are drained by ditches. Artificial reservoirs are built with
side troughs for watering cattle. The fields are in many cases fenced in
by planted hedges of euphorbia and thorn, and similar fences are planted
along the narrow parts of the main cattle tracks, to prevent the beasts
from straying or trampling down the cultivation.
"There is also an exceptional diversity of plants cultivated, such as
hungry rice, maize, red and white millet, several kinds of beans, peas,
bananas, and the edible arum. Some of the higher growing beans are even
trained on sticks planted for the purpose. Pumpkins and sweet potatoes
are also common; and the Watusi own and tend enormous herds of cattle,
goats and sheep. Owing to the magnificent pasturage the milk is of
excellent quality, and they make large quantities of butter. They are
exceedingly clever with their beasts, and have many calls which the
cattle understand. At milking time they light smoke-fires to keep the
flies from irritating the beasts.... They are tall slightly built men of
graceful nonchalant carriage, and their features are delicate and
refined. I noticed many faces that, bleached and set in a white collar,
would have been conspicuous for character in a London drawing-room. The
legal type was especially pronounced." ...
"The Wahutu are their absolute antithesis. They are the aborigines of
the country, and any pristine originality or character has been
effectually stamped out of them. Hewers of wood and drawers of water,
they do all the hard work, and unquestioning in abject servility give up
the proceeds on demand. Their numerical proportion to the Watusi must be
at least a hundred to one, yet they defer to them without protest; and
in spite of the obvious hatred in which they hold their over lords,
there seems to be no friction."
+Natives of the Andaman Islands+
The following extracts, about the Andaman-islanders of the Bay of
Bengal, the Bushmen of South Africa, and the Eskimo tribes of Northern
latitudes, are specially interesting because they deal with peoples
whose present-day culture is undoubtedly on a par with, and in all
probability directly inherited from, the peoples of a long-past Stone
Age. Thus we get indirectly a glimpse of what the culture of the Stone
Ages was--both in its material acquisitions and its grade of social and
psychological evolution.
From _In the Andamans and Nicobars_, p. 184, by C. Boden Kloss.
(Murray, 1903.)
"The Andaman Islands are inhabited by people of pure Negrito blood,
members of perhaps the most ancient race remaining on the earth, and
standing closest to the primitive human type.... It would be impossible
to find anywhere a race of purer descent than the Andamanese, for ever
since they peopled the islands in the Stone Age, they have remained
secluded from the outer world.... In stature they are far below the
average height; but although they have been called dwarfs and pygmies,
these words must not be understood to imply anything in the nature of a
monstrosity. Their reputation for hideousness, like their poisoned
arrows and cannibalism, has long been a fallacy which, though widely
popular, should now be exploded. The average heights of the men and
women are found to be 4 feet 10¾ inches, and 4 feet 7¼ inches
respectively, and their figures, which are proportionately built, are
very symmetrical and graceful. Although not to be described as muscular,
they are of good development, the men being agile, yet sturdy, with
broad chests and square shoulders."
From E. H. Man on _The Aborigines of the Andaman Islands_, p. 14.
(Trübner, 1883.)
"No idiots, maniacs or lunatics have ever yet been observed among them,
and this is not because those so afflicted are killed or confined by
their fellows, for the greatest care and attention are invariably paid
to the sick, aged and helpless."
Mr. Man also remarks (_Journ. Anthrop. Inst._ XII, 92): "It has been
observed with regret by all interested in the race, that intercourse
with the alien population has, generally speaking, prejudicially
affected their morals; and that the candour, veracity, and self-reliance
they manifest in their savage and untutored state are, when they become
associated with foreigners, to a great extent lost, and habits of
untruthfulness, dependence and sloth engendered."
+The Bushmen+
Extract from F. C. Selous' _African Nature-Notes_, pp. 344 and 347.
(1908.)
"When I met with the first Bushmen I ever saw, on the banks of the
Orange River in 1872, I was a very young man, and, regarding them with
some repugnance, wrote in my diary that they appeared to be removed by a
very few steps from the brute creation. That was a very foolish and
ignorant remark to make, and I have since found out that though Bushmen
may possibly be to-day in the same backward state of material
development and knowledge as once were the palæolithic ancestors of the
most highly cultured European races in prehistoric times, yet
fundamentally there is very little difference between the natures of
primitive and civilised men, so that it is quite possible for a member
of one of the more cultured races to live for a time quite happily and
contentedly amongst beings who are often described as degraded savages,
and from whom he is separated by thousands of years in all that is
implied by the word 'civilisation.' I have hunted a great deal with
Bushmen, and during 1884 I lived amongst these people continuously for
several months together. On many and many a night I have slept in their
encampments without even any Kafir attendants, and though I was entirely
in their power I always felt perfectly safe among them. As most of the
men spoke Sechwana I was able to converse with them, and found them very
intelligent, good-natured companions, full of knowledge concerning the
habits of all the wild animals inhabiting the country in which they
lived.... I have never seen their women and children ill-treated by
them, and I have seen both the men and the women show affection for
their children."
Elsewhere Selous speaks of "John"--a member of the close-related Korana
clan--who was in his service, as "of a pale yellow-brown colour,
beautifully proportioned, with small delicately made hands and feet."
From preface by Henry Balfour to the book _Bushmen Paintings
Copied_, by Helen Tongue.
"It is certain that the designs representing animals, etc., which are
painted upon the walls of their caves and rock-shelters, frequently
exhibit a realism and freedom in treatment which are quite remarkable in
the art of so primitive a people. The skill with which many of the
characteristic South African animals are portrayed testifies not only to
unusual artistic efficiency, but also to a close observance of and an
intimate acquaintanceship with the habits and peculiarities of the
animals themselves.... The paintings are remarkable not only for the
realism exhibited by so many, but also for a freedom from the limitation
to delineation in _profile_ which characterises for the most part the
drawings of primitive peoples, especially where animals are concerned.
Attitudes of a kind difficult to render were ventured upon without
hesitation, and an appreciation even of the rudiments of perspective is
occasionally to be noted."
Note from the same book, by S. Bleek, daughter of the well-known
Dr. Bleek, of the Grey Library at Cape Town (1870).
"Bushmen are called liars and thieves all over the Colony, but all those
who stayed with us were truthful and very honest. On no occasion did
they steal even a pocket-knife lost in the garden, or fruit from the
trees. They might have taken sheep from hostile farmers, but they would
never rob a friend or neighbour. They were cleanly in their habits, and
most particular about manners.... As a people they were grateful and
revengeful, independent in spirit, excellent fighters--who preferred
death to captivity.... Captives were sometimes made servants, but not
often well-treated, nor did they take to a settled life easily. Even
kind masters found their longing for freedom hard to conquer."
+The Nechilli Eskimo+
From Amundsen's _North West Passage_, vol. i, p. 294. (Constable,
1908.)
"We were suddenly brought face to face here with a people from the Stone
Age: we were abruptly carried back several thousand years in the advance
of human progress, to people who as yet knew no other method of
procuring fire than by rubbing two pieces of wood together, and who with
great difficulty managed to get their food just lukewarm, over the
seal-oil flame on a stone slab, while we cooked our food in a moment
with our modern cooking apparatus. We came here, with our most ingenious
and most recent inventions in the way of firearms, to people who still
used lances, bows and arrows of reindeer horn.... However, we should be
wrong if from the weapons, implements, and domestic appliances of these
people we were to argue that they were of low intelligence. Their
implements, apparently so very primitive, proved to be as well adapted
to their existing requirements and conditions as experience and the
skilful tests of many centuries could have made them."
+Ugpi, an Eskimo+
From Amundsen vol. i, p. 190.
"Ugpi or Uglen (the 'Owl') as we always called him, attracted immediate
attention by his appearance. With his long black hair hanging over his
shoulders, his dark eyes and frank honest expression, he would have been
good-looking if his broad face and large mouth had not spoilt his beauty
from a European standpoint. There was something serious, almost dreamy,
about him. Honesty and truthfulness are unmistakably impressed on his
features, and I would never have hesitated for a moment to entrust him
with anything. During his association with us he became an exceptionally
clever hunter both for birds and reindeer. He was about thirty years old
and was married to Kabloka, a very small girl of seventeen."
+Eskimo and Civilisation+
From Amundsen vol. ii, p. 48.
"During the voyage of the _Gjoa_, we came into contact with ten
different Eskimo tribes in all ... and I must state it as my firm
conviction that the Eskimo living absolutely isolated from civilisation
of any kind are undoubtedly the happiest, healthiest, most honorable
and most contented among them. It must therefore be the bounden duty of
civilised nations who come into contact with the Eskimo to safeguard
them against contaminating influences, and by laws and stringent
regulations protect them against the many perils and evils of so-called
civilisation. Unless this is done they will inevitably be ruined.... My
sincerest wish for our friends the Nechilli Eskimo is that Civilisation
may _never_ reach them."
+High Standard of Tribal Morality among the Aleoutes+
Witnessed to by the Russian missionary, Veniaminoff. See _Mutual
Aid_, pp. 99 and 100, by P. Kropotkin.
The high standard of the tribal morality of the Eskimos has often been
mentioned in general literature. Nevertheless the following remarks upon
the manners of the Aleoutes--nearly akin to the Eskimos--will better
illustrate savage morality as a whole. They were written, after a ten
years' stay among the Aleoutes, by a most remarkable man--the Russian
missionary, Veniaminoff. I sum them up, mostly in his own words:--
Endurability (he wrote) is their chief feature. It is simply colossal.
Not only do they bathe every morning in the frozen sea, and stand naked
on the beach, inhaling the icy wind, but their endurability, even when
at hard work on insufficient food, surpasses all that can be imagined.
During a protracted scarcity of food, the Aleoute cares first for his
children; he gives them all he has, and himself fasts. They are not
inclined to stealing; that was remarked even by the first Russian
immigrants. Not that they never steal; every Aleoute would confess
having sometime stolen something, but it is always a trifle; the whole
is so childish. The attachment of the parents to their children is
touching, though it is never expressed in words or pettings. The Aleoute
is with difficulty moved to make a promise, but once he has made it he
will keep it whatever may happen. (An Aleoute made Veniaminoff a gift of
dried fish, but it was forgotten on the beach in the hurry of the
departure. He took it home. The next occasion to send it to the
missionary was in January; and in November and December there was a
great scarcity of food in the Aleoute encampment. But the fish was never
touched by the starving people, and in January it was sent to its
destination.)
+Home Life of the Eskimo+
By Villialm Stefansson. From _Harper's Monthly_, October, 1908.
Stefansson lived for thirteen months in the household of a Chief,
Ovaynak, on the Mackenzie River, and knew his subject well. He says:--
"With their absolute equality of the sexes and perfect freedom of
separation, a permanent union of uncongenial persons is well-nigh
inconceivable. But if a couple find each other congenial enough to
remain married a year or two, divorce becomes exceedingly improbable,
and is much rarer among the middle-aged than among us. People of the age
of twenty-five and over are usually very fond of each other, and the
family--when once it becomes settled--appears to be on a higher level of
affection and mutual consideration than is common among us. In an Eskimo
home I have never heard an unpleasant word between a man and his wife,
never seen a child punished, nor an old person treated inconsiderately.
Yet the household affairs are carried on in an orderly way, and the good
behaviour of the children is remarked by practically every traveller.
"These charming qualities of the Eskimo home may be largely due to their
equable disposition and the general fitness of their character for the
communal relations; but it seems reasonable to give a portion of the
credit to their remarkable social organisation; for they live under
conditions for which some of our best men are striving--conditions that
with our idealists are even yet merely dreams."
+Religious Beliefs among the Eskimos+
From Rasmussen's _People of the Polar North_, pp. 125 and 127.
(1908.)
"Their religious opinions do not lead them to any sort of worship of the
supernatural, but consist--if they are to be formulated in a creed--of a
list of commandments and rules of conduct controlling their relations
with unknown forces hostile to man."
"A wise and independent thinking Eskimo, Otag the Magician, said to me
of death: 'You ask, but I know nothing of death; I am only acquainted
with life. I can only say what I believe: either death is the end of
life, or else it is the transition into another mode of life. In neither
case is there anything to fear. Nevertheless I do not want to die,
because I consider that it is good to live.' This calm way of envisaging
death is not unusual; I have seen many pagan Eskimos go to meet certain
death without a trace of fear."
+Periodical Distributions to Obviate Accumulations of Wealth+