Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2006/03/17
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Fascinating report, Rick. Thank you for bringing it to our/my attention. Found the last paragraph particularly poignant. B. On 17-mrt-2006, at 11:43, Rick Dykstra wrote: > Strange thing is I'm short as either a Dutchman or an Aussie. I > guess my parents decided to get out of Holland before the next flood. > > Re the Watusi - > > People are often surprised when I ten them the Dutch are the > tallest people in the world. Aren't they shrimps compared with the > famously tall Tutsi (or "Watusi," as you probably first encountered > them) of Central Africa? Actually, the supposed great height of the > Tutsi is one of the most durable myths from the age of European > exploration. Careful investigation reveals that today's Tutsi men > average 5'7 " and that they have maintained that average for more > than 100 years. That means that back in the 1800s, when puny > European men first met the Tutsi, the Europeans suffered strained > necks from looking up all the time. The two-to-three-inch > difference in average height back then could easily have turned > into fantastic stories of African giants by European adventurers > and writers. > > From here - http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1511/ > is_n2_v19/ai_20159533 > > Rick. > >> The Dutch may run to stuff their fingers in the dike but don't >> think that qualifies them as a "race". At a bit over six foot a >> Watusi would be called "shorty". >> >> Walt >> >> GREG LORENZO wrote: >> >>> Rick Dykstra <rdcb37@dodo.com.au> writes in part: >>> >>>> Its an interesting thing that, that the Dutch are the tallest >>>> race in the world. I suppose that's natural selection for you, >>>> in a country that's muchly 6 foot below sea level, that the >>>> average height is a >>>> little over 6 foot. :-) >>>> >>>> >>> >>> Rick, >>> >>> I believe the people of Crete are the tallest people, as a group, >>> in Europe. In North America, it is the Peigan Tribe, who are >>> Blackfoot. These two peoples were the tallest people in the world >>> at one time. Not long ago at that. >>> >>> Regards, >>> >>> Greg >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Leica Users Group. >>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >>> >>> >>> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Leica Users Group. >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information