Rensselaer Democrat, Volume 1, Number 6, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 May 1898 — DWARFS IN THE PYRENEES. [ARTICLE]

DWARFS IN THE PYRENEES.

Tli ©pry of Their Origin Derived from Their Legendary History. There has long dwelt In the heart of Pyrenees, on the old Catalonian border of Spain, a race of dwarfs, supposed by some to be of Tartar origin. They inhabit the valley of the Jtlbas In the northwestern part of the Spanish province now called Gerona. They never exceed 51% Inches/in height, and have short, ill-formed legs, great bellies, small eyes, flat noses and pale, unwholesome complexions. They are usually stupid, often to the verge of Idiocy, and much subject to goitre and scrofulous affections.' The chief town »f the Ribas valley is Ribas, a place of 1,500 inhabitants, about 800 feet above jea level. The mountains rise about the town to a height of 6,000 to 8,000 feet, and command an amazingly beautiful panorama of mountain, plain and river, with Spanish cities visible upon the one side and French upon the other, l'he region is rich, both agriculturally and minerally, and is famous for its medical springs. In this paradise dwell the dwarfs, perhaps as degraded a race of men and women as may be found in any civilized community. They are almost without education, and inhabit wretched huts when they have any shelter. The most intelligent are employed as Shephards, and in summer they live for months at an elevation of more than 6,000 feet without shelter. Here they see no hllmrin creature Bave some of their own kind, often Idiots, who are sent up every ljfteen or twenty days with a supply of food. It is said that formal marriage is almost unknown among them. The women In some instances are employed in the village of Ribas as nurses for children, and as such are found tender and faithful. Before communication throughout the region was as easy as it Is now it was thought lucky to have one of these dwarfs in a family, and the dwarfs were hired out and even Bold to be used in beggarjr in neighboring cities. There are somewhat similar dwarfs in other valleys of the Pyrenees, but the number is decreasing, and those of the Ribas valley are reduced to a few individuals. The writer rejects the theory of a Chinese origin for the dwarfs, and believes that they are merely the degenerate descendants of the ordinary natives, ill-nour-ished for generations upon a diet of potatoes and black bread. The fact that with improved means of communication the dwarfs are decreasing helps to confirm the writer’s theory, and he believes that with proper nourishment and decent shelter their descendants woulcT gradually return to the normal type. Meanwhile the neighbors of the dwarfs look upon them with a curious mixture of feelings. The fact that the dwarfs drink much at a particular mineral spring lias given rise to a superstition that whoever drinks of It will become deformed, and the normal natives are horrified to see visitors experimenting with the dreaded waters. There is reason to believe that the waters of the spring are beneficial to the stomachs of well-nourished persons, but injurious to those who are accustomed to an unwholesome diet, and It Is entirely possible that the illfed dwarfs have been Injured by drinking of the spring.—Cosmos.