THE PYGMIES IN THE CONGO FOREST.

Otago Witness, Issue 2968, 1 February 1911, Page 78

THE PYGMIES IN THE CONGO FOREST.

Few parte of Africa have occupied so much space in the daily press during the last 10i years as the central part of the Congo State; yet I venture to say that none is less known. There are many regions of the great equatorial forest that have never been visited by anybody but officials of the State, and it is of these parts that I intend to write. The majesty and beauty of the virgin forest cannot fail to strike the traveller who navigates the many great rivers that traverse it, but it is with the forest as w ith many a great man—closer acquaintance makes much of its glory depart. When the voyager sees the creeper-covered banks, where the dense vegetation forms a wall of all the colours oT the rainbow ; the huge traces with trunks that frequently are bars up to a height of 70ft; or 80ft, and then spread branches that cover with their shade wide expanses of ground; the numerous palms, from the aquatic Laurentii, with leaves 30ft long, to the graceful creeper palm, and the vines with all their fantastic contortions; then the forest seems as beauteous as an enchanted fairyland. But all this changes when the forest is entered. The traveller sees a few tree trunks shining through the undergrowth and a dark green mass of leaves, overhead, shutting out light and air. The atmosphere that prevails is like the air in a hothouse mixed with the offensive odour of decaying vegetable matter. Lack of light and fresh air soon create a feeling of suffocation, and have a. disastrous effect on the character. Observe the peoples who for generations have inhabited the forest. They are shy, distrustful, and treacherous; they fight in concealment and with poisoned weapons; they are evil-looking, email, and thin. From native legends we learn that they were born out of the crevices of the hollow trees ; that they are akin to ghosts; and that they spread bad luck, illness, and death by the arts of black magic. The most characteristic of the forest people are The Pygmies,— some of whom so little desire the company of other human beings that they will exchange the game they have slain for the produce of the farmer without ever setting eyes on him. They deposit the meat near some village and retire to the forest. The farmer is expected to take it and put it ill its place an equivalent value of his produce, to be fetched by the pygmy in the depth of the night. No man or woman would dare to take the meat without paying the full price for it, such is their fear of the magic power of the little man in the forest. The population of that part of the equatorial forest which Mr Hilton Simpson and I visited during our explorations in the Kasai Basin in 1907-9 can be divided into three sections.- First is the most deteriorated form of the negro, the pygmy, who lives in the dense forest in huts made of leaves, without ever troubling to make any clearings, for villages. He leads a more or less nomadic life, does _ not practice agriculture, and lives exclusively on the produce of the chase. He is called Batwa. Then come the people who form permanent villages, and for that purpose clear some ground; but this clearing is ■as a rule only a widening of the forest track, just enough, in fact, to leave room for their huts, which are made of bark. Their plantations are as a rule at a great distance from their habitations, and carefully concealed. They are shy, distrustful, and treacherous people, »->nd are physically an inferior race. The Bankutu belong to this class. Highest of all stand the Bate tela, and similar peonies, who live in the middle of their plantations, in houses with circular walls made of wood and covered with mud. As new ground is cleared every year the villages stand in wide open spaces formed in the course ot many generations by the devastation of the forest for agricultural purposes. They are friendly people, and physically superior to all the others. Visitors Unwelcome. — When we started on our journey through the Bankutu and Basongo Meno region we were warned by the officials of the dangers we ran, and I believe that had they not had strict instructions to let us go wherever we liked, they would have prevented as, unescorted as we were,

from penetrating into this -country of ill repute. At the first village we reached there was no mistaking that we were not only unexpected, but unwelcome. My companion, Mr Hilton Simpson, when stepping out from the forest track into the clearing, saw a native drawing his bow at one of our carriers, but some energetic words, reminiscent of the hunting field, made the uncanny little man disappear into the thicket whence he had come. On our arrival we found the village empty, the only person visible being an old lady, whom anybody less polite than I would describe as a "repugnant old hag. "Good evening." No answer. "Hullo, my beauty! I wish you a pleasant and good evening." No answer. "Can't you speak?" "No," replied the charming creature, and disappeared into a hut. After a time a disreputable-looking individual arrived and began to bustle about without taking the slightest notice of us. We accosted him and asked him where the chief of the village could be found. "There is no chief," he replied with a sepulchral grunt. "Where are the elders, then?" "Dead." "Could you sell us some food for our men?" "There is no food." "You don't mean to say that you hav. no-cassava?" "I do." "What do you eat yourselves?" "Nothing." "Could we buy some chickens?" "The chickens are all dead, like the elders." As there were a goodly number running about the village, we were probably supposed to believe that they were the spirits of the departed. "Could you tell me where we could fetch some water?" "There is no water." One of our carriers then came and told us not to trouble about water, for at sunset the dogs of the village would certainly go to the brook, and it would then be easy to follow them. As for food, he informed us that there were a gcod number of guinea-fowl about, and it would be wiser to go at once and shoot some of them instead of wasting our time with the Basongo Meno, who were hostile to all strangers. We followed his advice, and fared well by doing so, for we soon learned that not even greed for our chattels could induce the villagers to abandon their unfriendly attitude. —Cannibalism. — Pity the poor official who has to administer a country like this. We met one, a fine young fellow, who had determined to conquer the opposition by kindness. He sent two messengers to a Bankutu chief explaining his intentions. "Let past offences be forgotten," thus ran his message, "and let us be friends." He heard nothing of his messengers for some time; then a man who acted as a sort of go-between among the tribes brought word that the messengers had •been eaten, and that the chief would welcome more food with pleasure. Imagine our friend's astonishment a few months later when he received a deputation from the very same village. The ambassadors declared that their fellow villagers had repented of their conduct and were prepared to submit to the authority of the white man. They would in future abstain from their man-hunting expeditions among the neighbouring tribes, abandon cannibalism, and show themselves peaceful and law-abiding citizens. There was triumph for the official! So happy was he that all the little treasures, so dear to the man in the bush, which he could spare he gave to them in token of his goodwill. And the Bankutu left the village. A fewhundred yards away was a brook, where the wives of the soldiers had gone, according to their custom, to fetch water. When the messengers of peace came to the brook they attacked the women, killed several, mutilating the corpses horribly. Then they succeeded' in making their escape into the forest. —Climate. — The climate of this region is the worst imaginable; the mornings are chilly, and *he mist does not rise before half-past 9 01 10 o'clock. The heat in the daytime is intense, and the air is saturated with moisture. The few white residents suffer from chronic malaria, and many have to leave after a few months' stay and go to the open plains in order to recover. It must be attributed to these conditions that this part of the Congo has escaped the attention of the professional naturalist; anyone making it the field of his studies would be sure to add a great number of new specimens to those already known to science. It is a country which* ought to be especially attractive to the English, sportsman. It is little known. There is every chance of his get ting his throat cut, and s_hould be miss his chances in that way he will in all likelihood die of blackwater fever or dysentery. He will have great difficulty in avoiding starvation, and the sport he will get (consisting more frequently is. the pursuit of game than in the bagging of it) will entail so much hardship that only if gifted with an iron constitution will he be able to indulge at all his tastes in that direction. On the other hand, there is little glory to be got out of an enterprise of this kind, for when the news of his death reaches Europe his only funeral oration will be: "Serve him right! Why could he not stay at home?" -—A Friendly People.— Just as the traveller finds in this region some of the most hostile natives, so he meets, when proceeding further east, with the friendliest and most hospitable people, the Batetela. After wandering for weeks and weeks without getting into the open, without ever meeting with a friendly reception in the various villages through which he passes, it dees his heart good to be received one day by a chief beaming with friendliness, dressed in his best clothes, and surrounded by his wives and children, and to be led, accompanied by an orchestra of drums and rattles, to a large clean village, surrounded by clearings sometimes miles in length, the result of the labour of many industrious generations. As c-oon as the tents are pegged out a huge crowd surrounds the traveller and offers for pale fowls, goats, vegetables (a luxury not to be found amongst the other tribes)., and tobacco of excellent quality. The prices are very moderate, and anything will be accepted in ex-

change. There is a great market for empty tins and bottles and old cloth. Suddenly the crowd will disperse, and the chief will bring in great state his “mirambo,” or present. This consists of fowls and game for the white man, and food, ready prepared, for the carriers. Honey and ground nut oil are very welcome if t 1 ; store of butter and sugar is exhausted. During meal-time the chief’s orchestra will play, and if the music cannot he described as beautiful, the intentions are certainly of the best. And when the traveller continues his journey the signalling drum will inform the next village of the visit it has to expect, and all will be ready for his reception. When we went to the country of the Akela; vc b° do not prepare palm wine, the chief of the last Batetela village sent us daily a supply of it for use as yeast for jnaking our bread. His messenger had often to_ travel the whole night, but in the morning we never failed to find the kindly ing our acceptance. —E. Torday, m the Field.