t • •. • • · .• ., · • : · ·.

· · • •• 7

..HOME·.
.EXPLORER-'VERNER
·.·_
.·WITH
•.-"AF
RICAN
CURIOS
Brings Mr. Otabenga, a· Dwarf,
to Act as His, Valet~

A MAN•.IN A BOY'S .BODY

The ~ygmy Thinks Peary Meteorite a
. . .
Strange God-Made Blase · by
Marvels He Has Seen.

1. .
I· S. P. Verner, the explorer, has returned
f to New York, after spendirig a. year and
Ia half in travel through Afrlca. !\·Ir. Ver•.
1
J

ner brought to this country the three

1pygmies that 1\rere orie of· the attractions
at the St. Louis Exposition, and his pres-
ent trip was •to return them to their
n·ative village. He has brought .to Amer-
ica this time many specimens of native
_weaving, pottery, ·and plant bulbs. All
these things he has ·taken to the ·.4.merican
Museum. He also has wlt:h him as a
s~rvant, Otabenga, one of the pyg~les. I
• ,vhe11 a reporter called on them they
were in the basement of the museum u11-,
packing the many obje ~ts of interest 1

gathered in Africa by Mr. Verner.: The

pigmy worked with great spe.ed, tying
strings to labeling tags. His haste wa8
1 due to his desire to· get out Into the
I sunshine to play. Though Otabenga ls a
1man 111 years, he is in many ways as
simple as a child. He is most expert in
. tying knots, as the ability to make snares
I .

i and. nets is one of the necessary accom-

plishments of his people. His nimble fin ..
gers· can make a net, v,ith great rapid-
ity and absolute regularity, These nets
are larg:ely used by 111speople in captur-
ing animal food. • They are stretched
:!or great distances at the foot of trees.
The natives beat the bush and so drive
their prey into the sriares, where they
are captured after they have become en-
tangled.
Strange to his surroundings,
and as un-
impressf onable as the great metcprite
brought by Lieut. Peary to the museum,
Otabeng·a is surprisingly indifferent to
the marvels about hir,1. His favorite play-
ground is tho· rnet~orite. 1'he attendants
: at the museum say that Otn.benga thinks
this meteorite represents the Gqd of
: Playtime. No savage ln Africa ever had
i so 1na11y deities co1n~;)ni-entfor his vencr-
j ation. In the basement there are carved
totem poles, the figures of Indians ·with I
/ their strange garments, and the Eskimo,
clothecl in valuable furs. But the play-
I
i time god Is his favorite.
Otabenga,. corning from, a land where
the less clothing- the more comfort, is
: posltlve in his own mind that ;10 other
than ~ god would wear the skins of ani-
mals. •
J-Ie cannot help ~miling. •his funny Ut-
tle stranger of a dwarf :·nee. ,:vhen he
does he shows teeth which denttsts have
, found perfect. 'l'he dentists and the doc-
tors. have agreed that he is :.?3years olu.
which correRponds to his o-n"nestimate of
! the length of t1me since he was bprn.
Visitor~ meeting this man-boy. clad ln
a l{akj jacket and blue cotton trouser6,
often stop to speak to him. He 11sually
. grins at then1 good-naturedly and say~
i •' Yes" to all questions put to him. It is
! one of the ve1·y few English words he
•knows. But he sometimes •greets -0thers
: in a different way, particularly boys
i about his own size. Frowning fiercely
Iand dra wlng back his lips so that his J
, teeth shine menacingly: he shouts at
I them in a 1nan's gruff voice. l\Iany a boy !
0
• fo~ a~aso~~i~~~t tgof
disagreeable surprise.
t;:~nfia~i~ i:::fi~~: !
Coming rrom a. land where i\'ory is the
standard of wealth, rivaled only since
the advent of tne white man by the rub-
ber product, Ote.benga wonders •greatly
at the tusks of .the mammoths and the
I
, pictures of elephants with tusks worth a
1
tribe's ransom which hang about . the
I museum's v..-alls.
. He was standing before the dinosaur
: yesterday, when .a man, taking him for an
attenaant, asked hJm for a chair. The pig-
. my brought It. The man gave him a tip
and fixed the chair so that a woman with
him might sit in lt. Otabenga~ his face
expressing scorn, handed back the silver J
piece as to an inferior.' Notwithstanding
all that he has seen -since he left h"ome for
the land of the white man the pigmy
cannot get over the feellng that a man
who sacrifices his own comfort for that
of a woman is a weakling. ,
The pfgmy Is beginning to be blas~ in
the sense thnt he has seen so many won-
derful things-' since· he left the interior of
Africa that he is beyond feeling surprise .
.According to Mr. Verner, if he should take
him to see a balloon ascension and later
tell him that he intended to take him for I
a voyage to the moon, the pigµiy would
not be surprised.
Otabenga's trip Into the unknown world
of the white man began ln a steamship.
He was at first greatly frightened when
the ahlp began to move over the waters.
He sat silent for· hours on deck, showing
: the whites of his eyes and his gleaming
, teeth, too frightened to move.._ In time
he saw that the white people were not
alarmed, and then he got courage to run
: about. Otabenga became daring. He
: ,vent here and there about the ship, from
; the hold to the engine room. .
: Mr. Verner had to watch hlm with great
I care, ·cautioning him against the dangers
he did not understand. He and the ex-
1

1
plorer 'finally reached Liverpool. They I
were walking in that ctty one day wh~n
I Otabenga attracted, through his strange
! tongue, the attention of persons pass1ng
I by. The dwarf misunderstood the curlos~
ity of t)ie whft.e people and thought he
was 1n danger.
The little black man, four feet and two
I; Finally
Inches high, soon l\ad a crowd about htni.
the throng became so large thii,t
, the poUce had to he]p the pair to escape .
. For this reason Mr. Verner has not been
1
seen on the street with the dwarf tn this
• c;fty.
Otabengn's capacity to convey his Im-
. pressions •is limited. He lacks a basis:
1for comparison. He spends his days in
· a wonderful place filled with strange
I
1 gods, its •entrance guarded by the great 1
: God of Playtime. The rest of the city i
: does not Interest him. He sums it up in I
i this way: I
, "At
1_

1
home the trees are very tall and
the houses small. Here the houses are
very tall and the trees small.''
----
I

Published: September 2, 1906

Copyright © The New York Times