WONDERS OF AFRICA.

Golden Bay Argus, Volume VII, Issue 68, 19 September 1901, Page 2

WONDERS OF AFRICA.

THE LITTLE PEOPLE OF THE FORESTS. Sir Harry Johnston, who has recently completed journeys in the western part of the Uganda Protectorate, has reported some remarkable facts concerning those regions to the Ro3 r al Geographical Society. While travelling through the Congo Free State to transact some business with the Free State officials, Sir Henry Johnston took the opportunity to restore to their homes in the Congo Forest a number of pigmies who had been kidnapped by a German adventurer for the purpose of being sent to the Paris Exhibition. It had been sought to convey these pigmies through the British protectorate of Uganda into German territory; but the Congo Free State officials having protested, Sir H. Johnston arrested the German and released the pigmies from his control. A REMARKABLE LITTLE PEOPLE. These interesting little people were duly reinstated in their homes, if the term " home" can be applied to the tiny huts of leaves and branches which they frequent for a certain period in the Great Forest. Many photographs were taken of the dwarfs, male and female, of their dances, implements, and dwellings. It was found that—as other travellers relate—the dwarfs were of two types—-black-skinned, with a good deal of stiff, curling, black hair about the body, and red or yellow-skinned, with a tendency to redness in the hair of the head and yellowishgr. in the hair growing on the body. Some of the dwarfs, especially when young, have quite hairy bodies, and their women not infrequently have incipient whiskers. Sir H. Johnson arrived at the conclusion that these Congo dwarfs no longer speak an original language of their own, but talk, in a slightly corrupted form, the language of the taller negroes in whose vicinity they dwell. A NEW KIND OF HORSE. Sir H. Johnston ascertained that there exists in these Congo forests a most remarkable species of horse or zebra. This animal is a uniform iron grey over the upper part of the body. The*belly and legs are striped on white with black or chestnut coloured stripes. The head of the animal is said to be rather long and slender. Sir H. Johnson was only able to secure portions of imperfect skins, but such as they are they point conclusively to an animal of the horse tribe not hitherto known or described. The dwarfs call this creature O'api, with a click in the middle of the word, but the Bambuba style it Okapi. Rumours of this creature reached Stanley, and are recorded by him in one of the appendices of his book, "In Darkest Africa." The Belgian authorities, who gave Sir H. Johnston the portions of skin above alluded to, promised to try and secure a complete specimen of the animal for transmission to Europe.