'The aborigines of the Andaman Islands may perhaps claim the
distinction of being the smallest race upon this earth, though
some anthropologists prefer the Bushmen of Africa, the Digger
Indians of America, and the Terra del Fuegians. The average
height is rather below four feet, although many full-grown adults
may be found who are very much smaller than this. They are a
fierce, morose, and intractable people, though capable of forming
most devoted friendships when their confidence has once been
gained.' Mark that, Watson. Now, then, listen to this. 'They
are naturally hideous, having large, misshapen heads, small,
fierce eyes, and distorted features. Their feet and hands,
however, are remarkably small. So intractable and fierce are
they that all the efforts of the British official have failed to
win them over in any degree. They have always been a terror to
shipwrecked crews, braining the survivors with their stone-headed
clubs, or shooting them with their poisoned arrows. These
massacres are invariably concluded by a cannibal feast.' Nice,
amiable people, Watson! If this fellow had been left to his own
unaided devices this affair might have taken an even more ghastly
turn.
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