This whole thing is getting a little eerie for the Mirth forum: 3-foot hobbits who seem to have enough hair to leave some behind and were destroyed by a volcano! (This book ends differently than the one I read.)
Want to get even stranger? I looked through the articles linked through Mark12_30's post. Apparently, these Hobbits also had prodigious appetites. Dutch settlers said they left out food for the little people, which was promptly devoured. But not only did the Hobbits eat the food--they also ate the gourd bowl in which the food was served! Those little guys obviously liked to chow down.....
At least we've solved that vexing question that has long been raised on this forum: exactly where did Hobbits come from. The next time anyone posts such a question I will definitely refer them to the Isle of Flores (an appropriate origin for a flower-loving people!).
For anyone who'd like to speculate on what all this implies for our "collective folk memory", please follow the gourd-lined trail up to the hobbit ancestors' thread in Novices and Newcomers.....