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The story of the ‘little men’ (cf. iv. 43. 5), the Pygmies, is as old as Homer (Il. iii. 3-7), and recurs repeatedly in ancient writers. It was much doubted by modern writers till the explorations of Du Chaillu, Schweinfurth, and others proved completely the existence of these dwarfs, both north and south of the Equator (cf. Rev. Hist. 47 for a collection of the evidence on the subject by Monceaux). This is one of the best-known of the many instances in which H.'s ‘credulity’ has been shown to be scientific. H. does not exaggerate their smallness as other writers do; their average height is said to be about 4 1/2 feet. Dwarfs from the south were favourites at the Egyptian court as early as the Old Kingdom (cf. Breasted, A. R. i. 351, of the 6th Dynasty).

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