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AKKA (TIKKI-TI%II)
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See also:AKKA (TIKKI-TI%II) , a See also:race of See also:African pygmies first seen by the traveller G. A. See also:Schweinfurth in 187o, when he was in the See also:Mangbettu ccuntry, N.W. of See also:Albert See also:Nyanza. The See also:home of the Akka is the dense See also:forest See also:zone of the Aruwimi See also:district of the See also:Congo See also:State. They See also:form a See also:branch of the See also:primitive See also:pygmy See also:negroid race, and appear to be divided into See also:groups, each with its own See also:chief. Of all African " dwarfs " the Akka are believed the best representatives of the " little See also:people " mentioned by See also:Herodotus. Giovanni Miani, the See also:Italian explorer who followed Schweinfurth, obtained two See also:young Akka in See also:exchange for a See also:dog and a See also:calf. These, sent to See also:Italy in 1873, were respectively 4 ft. 4 in. and 4 ft. 8 in. high, while the tallest seen by Schweinfurth did not reach 5 ft. None of the four Akka brought to See also:Europe in 1874 and 1876 exceeded 3 ft. 4 in. The See also:average height of the race would seem to be some, what under 4 ft., but sufficient measurements have not been taken to allow of a conclusive statement. Schweinfurth says the Akka have very large and almost spherical skulls (this last detail proves to be an exaggeration). They are of the See also:colour of See also:coffee slightly roasted, with See also:hair almost the same colour, woolly and tufted; they have very projecting jaws, See also:flat noses and protruding lips, which give them an " See also:ape-like " See also:appearance. Marked See also:physical features are an abdominal protuberance which makes all Akka look like pot-bellied See also:children, and a remarkable hollowing of the spine into a See also:curve like an S. Investigation has shown that these are not true racial characteristics, but tend to disappear, the abdominal enlargement subsiding after some See also:weeks of See also:regular and wholesome See also:diet. The upper limbs are See also:long, and the hands, according to Schweinfurth, are singularly delicate. The See also:lower limbs are See also:short, relatively to the See also:trunk, and curve in somewhat, the feet being See also:bent in too, which gives the Akka a topheavy, tottering gait. There is a tendency to See also:steatopygia among the See also:women. The Akka are nomads, living in the forests, where they See also:hunt See also:game with poisoned arrows, with pitfalls and springs set everywhere, and with traps built like huts, the See also:roofs of which, hung by tendrils only, fall in on the See also:animal. They collect See also:ivory and See also:honey, manufacture See also:poison, and bring these to See also:market to exchange for cereals, See also:tobacco and See also:iron weapons. They are courageous hunters, and do not hesitate to attack even elephants, both sexes joining in the See also:chase. They are very agile, and are said by the neighbouring negroes to leap about in the high grass like grasshoppers. They are timid. as children before strangers, but are declared to be malevolent and treacherous fighters. In See also:dress, weapons and utensils they are as the surrounding negroes. They build See also:round huts of branches and leaves in the forest clearings. They seem in no way a degenerate race, but rather a people arrested in development by the forest environment. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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