Let us turn our attention to the smallest women of the world. History, ethnology, and classic myth have united to make the Eastern pigmies the most interesting people in the world. Though they are a little people, and have been hard pressed by larger and stronger races, they have survived for centuries. They are to be found in Asia, Africa, and the islands of the sea. Africa was doubtless their aboriginal home; but this negrito type has spread eastward, probably in their canoes in the early days, till the islands of the South Seas have become their home. The women among these little people are even smaller than the men. The Mincopies of the Andaman Islands are among the most interesting of the negritos. Because of their roving nature, they live in huts which are rather temporary in character. These are put up by the women, though when a sojourn in a given locality is to be of longer duration the men build huts that are more permanent. The boys and girls do not sleep in the same huts with the married people, but in huts specially constructed for them. The women often become quite expert in the manufacture of pottery by hand, the vessels having rounded bottoms, and being decorated with wavy lines, or lines made by a wooden style. Both boys and girls in the first few years of life are left entirely nude. At about six years the little girl has placed upon her an apron of leaves. This is her sole garment. Later in life, the womanly instinct for ornament shows itself however, so that necklaces and girdles are added. There is a certain kind of girdle, made from the pandanus leaves, which is the peculiar possession of the married women. The women, as well as the men, tattoo their entire bodies. This art of tattooing is practised almost entirely by the women. They use a piece of quartz or glass, making horizontal and vertical incisions in alternating series. There was probably some religious significance originally in this practice, since the men begin the process by making incisions with an arrow used in hunting the wild pig, and while the wounds are still fresh the man must refrain from using the flesh of this animal. The bodies of the women are usually quite shapely, though their faces are not beautiful. With the women as well as the men, the body is of nearly uniform width, there being scarcely any enlargement at the hips. Since the race is comparatively pure, marrying among themselves, the type is very uniform; and since, as Quatrefages says, the occupations of men and women vary little, the difference in the development of female as contrasted with masculine characteristics is exceedingly small.