Certain supposed tailed races which have been described by
sea-captains and voyagers are really only examples of people who
wear artificial appendages about the waists, such as palm-leaves
and hair. A certain Wesleyan missionary, George Brown, in 1876
spoke of a formal breeding of a tailed race in Kali, off the
coast of New Britain. Tailless children were slain at once, as
they would be exposed to public ridicule. The tailed men of
Borneo are people afflicted with hereditary malformation
analogous to sexdigitism. A tailed race of princes have ruled
Rajoopootana, and are fond of their ancestral mark. There are
fabulous stories told of canoes in the East Indies which have
holes in their benches made for the tails of the rowers. At one
time in the East the presence of tails was taken as a sign of
brute force.
There was reported from Caracas the discovery of a tribe of
Indians in Paraguay who were provided with tails. The narrative
reads somewhat after this manner: One day a number of workmen
belonging to Tacura Tuyn while engaged in cutting grass had their
mules attacked by some Guayacuyan Indians. The workmen pursued
the Indians but only succeeded in capturing a boy of eight. He
was taken to the house of Senor Francisco Galeochoa at Posedas,
and was there discovered to have a tail ten inches long.
Pages:
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533