African Forest Dwellers Won by Little Act Of Human Kindness

Manawatu Times, Volume LVI, Issue 5618, 6 April 1931, Page 3

African Forest Dwellers Won by Little Act Of Human Kindness

In one way I am loath to write about my forest friends lest, perchance their forest fastness is consequently invaded by unsympathetic exploiters of mere sensation, writes Richard St. Parbe Baker, in the Christian Science Monitor. At the same time I would willingly share what have been some ot the happiest experiences of niv life with understanding readers who with me are in search of truth about our fellow men in their contacts with nature. As I have travelled many thousands of miles throughout Equatorial Africa in the course of my work as Forestry Officer, without reference to my diary, their actual location will for tho present remain hidden, though this article may provide possible clues to the thoughtful natural scientist and student of anthropology. I had heard of the existence of the forest dwellers at first from Arab friends .and had often wondered if it would be my good fortune to make their acquaintance. But although 1 marched for hundreds of miles, conscious that I was being secretly watched by these strange forest folk, many weeks passed before I was able to make contact with members of tho tribe. Strange Sounds. One day, however, I wa.s walking in the dense bush when my attention was arrested by a strange sound, As 1 thought, for such a place, I at once .-.topped and beckoned my followers to keep still. AVc looked about us, yet there was nothing visible but the dense vegetation, and there was no sign of any human being having passed along the old game track on which .1 was walking. Presently as I listened there was an unmistakable ripple of laughter as from a little child. The sound came from the dense bush, but could hardly have been 20 yards ahead. I cut- my way through the undergrowth as quickly as was possible and came upon a small opening where I saw an old man sitting in a crazy booth while near by were two small children, the elder not more than two years old. The old man showed no signs of fear and possessed the rare dignity of the true aristocrat, which ho afterward proved to be. Just then a woman appeared carrying in one hand a large bow and dragging behind her a young antelope. She hung the result of the chase on a convenient tree and without noticing me, for on her approach I had stepped back into the shade of a nearby bush, picked up a water jar and disappeared again as quickly as she had come. Burst Into Frenzy. Imagining that the old man ftvas suffering, I suggested to my carriers that they should make a stretcher, which they quickly did from strips of bark and staves, and the old man, was carefully lifted onto it, when the

■woman returned and, finding that the carriers were about to remove her man she sprang with one bound in the direction of the carriers and quickly drove them into the surrounding bush. She next returned to her man, bent ever the stretcher and, after caressingly running her hands over him from the soles of his feet to his shoulders, knelt by his side with one hand on each of his arms, fixed him with her shining eyes and burst into an impassioned musical speech. In a moment it was as though a spell had been cast upon him. He answered with his eyes, but did not utter a word. She stopped speaking and, half raising with him her strong and supple arms, embraced him fondly, caressingly, and laid him back comfortably to rest. She now rose quickly to her feet and swung round with definance in every line of her body faced me —the first white man she had ever encountered in her life.

I must admit that I had been deeply moved by the spontaneous display of action for the apparently helpless old man, and as I looked at her, even as she was trembling with rage, I_ loved her spirit. Spontaneous recognition of good will followed, and in a instant she was transformed. Such is the force of intuition in these children of nature that without my having spoken a word she instinctively knew my sympathy and felt that I was their friend. The Forest- Dwellers are natural scouts. The mosts kilful nian among them is voted chief. They are, generally speaking, very healthy people. They believe in keeping themselves fit by regulating their diet and they naturally get a lot of exercise. They do not cultivate the ground but manage to vary their diet by using a lot of green food both cooked and uncooked, wild fruits and nuts, tree seeds, roots and plants, wild yams and a certain number of forest weeks which take the place of vegetables. Stinging nettles when they can be found, are valued as a food. They arc first boiled lightly and then pounded to a pulp. °Honev takes the place of most sweets/ This they collect from hollow trees, of which a number are allotted to each family. No family would think cf trespassing on another's honey preserves. It is the unwritten law of the forest that each dweller has his own territory. They prefer the honey in the comb.

Close to Nature. These forest, folk live so close to nature that they make even the birds their allies. I have seen a honey-bird lead a hunter to a hollow tree in which there is honey ready to be taken. After first getting the man's attention by coming quite close to his camp and chirping loudly it will flit from bough to bough in the direction of the hollow tree, returning every now and again and perching quite close- to the man, as if to make, sure that he is following. The hunter, when he has taken the honey, rewards the bird with a liberal supply of grubs in tho comb. In regard to' marriage customs the Forest Dwellers have but one . wife. Tho usual dowry paid at the time of marriage is a pair of elephant tusks, which arc .not.so.much.appreciated for their intrinsic value, but rather be-

cause they are a proof of the skill and bravery of the bridegroom. The Forest Dwellers do not live in villages, nor do they make permanent buildings. I have never seen more than four or five booths together in one place, and there is no defined path leading up to such a camp. A stranger might pass quite close to a group of shelters without realising their existence, for great care is taken to obliterate any apparent road of access. Itis usual for these shy forest people to return to their camp by different routes so that they shall not betray their presence to strangers by leaving worn trails.

These then arc my friends tho Forest Dwellers, and as I came to know them in time they began to render valuable assistance in forestry work. They entered enthusiastically into the work of collecting tree seeds or any other useful work which I might suggest. When the time came for me to leave their forests I parted from them with rbal regret, a feeling which evidently was reciprocated by the Forest Dwellers as, for the first time in their lives, a number of them accompanied mo on my way temporarily leaving the shelter of their forest homes to bid me farewell. Looking back upon the time spent with these children of nature and having with deep interest, entered into their joys and sorrows, I am convinced that, in spite of their precarious existence in the junglej they have managed to retain many of the joys which we hold dear. For there in the heart of the forest they live their care-free lives and enjoy each other’s comradeship with sufficient, food and shelter, even though their home may be but a primitive bower of leaves and branches.