The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1899-11-24

DIR. W. J. Ansorge. MEDICAL officer TO
the Uganda Protsctorats, has given to the
London Leader some interesting dstaiis
Of his record journey from mid-Africa to
England. OF the famous race of pigmies,
DIR. Ansorge observed: 1.-THE piRmies
inhabit the rsufon brtwsen Fort Benz
and Ava kubi. and are called wambut'.
Some ale considerably taller than 9th rs;
In fact, many are about the same heigf .
as the crowds Of ill-nourishrd poor who m
you see IN ths East End OF London.
some. however, are al surdly short. nts
much taller. Indeed. than an knglisI
child Of six or seven. Some OF them have
boards, although did not find every oil q
Of them with huge, long, flowing bearGs
nor did find them at ali shy, which was
not to be wondered At, seeing the num-
Der Of white Congo State off ,ials WIN
are constantly travelling mp and down
the route. When 1 was there they came
and performed one OF their curious dances
st Oliuga and Mohaila. The men were
the principal singers, and the dancers
followed each other In circle. perform
ing one, two, three steps and advancing
and then, one, two, three steps without
advancing. While all this WAS going on
the women elay ID their hands from
time to time, prod ueing loud, cracking,
wooden noise. AT Olinga the sounu
appeared to be q constant repetition of
'Wo, wo, wo,' We, we, we,' and 'Xo
20, no. At Mohslla thoir songs evident
ly contained words. as the tune was fas
from disagreeabls. Two of the dwarfs
could speak little kiswahilL They
were all very scantily covered, but no ons
was nude
"The typical wambztl has u reoeding
forehsad, bushy eyebrows. and thick,
pouting lips, some have a totally diffe;-
est type Of feature, a fact which leads
to behave the different tribes are now
oonfouuded under the general name CT
Wambuti Several OIL oials have assured
me that they ara cannibals, bus Captain
Burr 3ws, who has had good opportunity
of studying them, does not think that
they are, and II anything OF the kind did
taks place tt would naturally bs practtsed
vita the utmost possible secrecy. Ac-
oording to Mr.. Eriksson, party of
women not long ago were surprised Dv
Mambuti, and au hut one succeeded In
making good their escaps. They heard
the shrisks Of the captnred woman, and
on returning to the scens discovered pools
of blood ard other evidences that shsir
companion had been chopped to pieces
and carried away. such OF the Wambuti
as saw, however, were perfectly friend
ly. At Mohsila they gave me live an
Ielope IS present.. Il blended ID have
brought it home with me for the 20
illogical Gardens. but found that. IL YVES
i'm possible { ] kesp Is slivs, rs 10th Its
front legs had been broken In q trap.
There Is une psouIisrity about their
weapons In that they use leaf In place
Of feather In their arrows, which, like
their bot ~. are exceedingly small" In
References 90 the trade OF the Congo. DIR.
Ansorg e said: 1.-THE quantity OF ivory
which comes down the river is simply IA
founding. In the ve-sal In which l trav-
elsd thsRe was somsthina like nine hun
dTed tusks, and / was told that tAis had
been going on for montIs-indeed, 80
huse 10 t,e trade that they have teen
compelled to put on extra steamers.
Every thing goes to the Government, tut
the officials are allowed at the end Of
their three years. engagement to take
ivory t. this vslus of go, Init IL they
shoot an elephant the Goysrninsnt takes
every thing. The really valuable part of
the trade, however. IL tas rubber indus
try, which has marvellous future. The
steamers are unable to carry all that has
bssn tlppsd, and here Ia q asplendid op-
portunity for private enterprise