The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-02-13
DWARFS IN THE FOREST.
They Never Emerge From the Great Soil
tude in Which Lloyd Found Them.

The English traveller Alfred B. Lloyd,
who has made the journey from Vic
toria Nyanza to the mouth of the Congo
IN three months. the quickest time on
record travelled through the great
equatorial forest of which Stanley gave
so vivid description. His route was a
little to the south of Stanley's road and
he saw much of the dwarfs who inhabit
the forest region.
Il was three weeks crossing the great
forest" he said. often the darkness
even at midday is remarkable. Some
times l was unable to read at noon,
when. as you know, the sun near the
equator is almost directly overhead.
One day l tried to photograph my tent,
but failed on account of the dimness of
the light. / walked through the for
est journey though I had a saddle ass
with me. ] could not use him without
constantly exposing myself to the dan
ger of being unsaddled by the vines that
hung over the path. We some times mar
rowly escaped being killed by the fall
of enormous trees, some of whose
trunks measured over twenty feet in
circumference. The silence of death
reigns in this forest unless broken by
animals or the fall of trees.
Mr.. Lloyd found game in abundance
There were numerous elephants, Loop
al eE, puildloeS anu dutelOpeS III the
forest. At night he lit fires to keep ami
mails away from the camp He saw
many more dwarfs than Stanley met
in the same region and thus described
them to the London Daily News
Il saw a great many of the pigmies,
but, generally speaking, they kept out
of the way as much as possible. AT one
place in the middle\of the forest, called
Holenga, I stayed at a village of a few
huts occupied by so-called Arabs. There
I came upon a great number of pigmeA
who came to see me. They told me
that unknown to myself they had been
watching me for five days, peering
through the growth of the primeval for
est at our caravan. They appeared to
be very frightened, and even when
speaking covered their faces. l slept at
this village, and in the morning l asked
the chief to allow me to photograph the
dwarfs. He brought ten or fifteen of
them together, and I was enabled ITO Sc
cure a snapshot. I couldn't give a time
exposure. as the pigmies would not
stand still.
Then with great difficulty I tried to
measure them, and found not one of
them over four feet in height All were
fully developed. The women We're some
what slighter than the men, but were
equally well formed.
L was amazed at their SturdineSS,
Their arms and chests We're splendidly
developed, as much as in good speci-
men of an Englishman. These men have
long boards half way down the chest,
which imparts to them a strange ap-
pearance. They are very timd, and
cannot look strangeri in the face. Their
eyes are constantly shifting, as in the
case of monkeys. They are fairly intel
lgent.
Il had a long talk with the chief, and
he conVersed intelligently about the ex-
tent of the forest and the number of his
tribe. Except for a tiny strip of bark
cloth. men and women are quite nude.
They are armed with bows and arrows
the latter tipped with deadly poison
and carry small spears. They are en-
tirely nomadic shetering at night in
small huts two feet to three feet in
height. They never go outside of the
forest. During the whole time l was
with them they were perfectly friendly.
In parts of the forest / found a fairly
good track. perhaps a couple of feet
wide, Overhung and crossed by boughs
and enormous creepers, but generally
speaking it was easier to cut our way
right through the tropical growth