The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-11-13
IN ENCOUNTER WITH PYGMIEs

I oui 6uluc knew the ulTeCtlOn w
wanted to go and I was able to kee,
him right by constant reference to the
compass. Tor six days we cut oui
way along. In places the forest wa.
slightly clearer, and we were able Il
follow the track of some forest animal
but not living soul did we see, Or
| the sixth day, while hunting for wild
pigs, which seemed to be very plenti
full in the forest, my boy, who was at
tending me, suddenly stopped me- and
pointing up a tree, described to me a
man monkey" My thoughts natur-
ally reverted to the great monkeys
which exist in the forest, and which
we had encountered only a day or two
before, and, looking up, / could just
see among the thick foliage some large
creature, and I Immediately leveled my
rifle and took careful aim. Just as I
was about to fire, the boy stopped me
by saying, Don't fire, it's mani"
Dropping my gun in wild excitement,
l gazed up at the figure, which now
saw was indeed man, a pygmy, a
mannikin, a dwarf. Call him what
you will, there he was. For moment
after he had become aware that he
was seen, he stood and gazed at us,
and then turning deftly round, he ran
along the branch on which he stood,
jumped from branch to branch and
finally disappeared l could scarcely
believe my eyes, and almost doubted
my sanity. We stood together, gazing
in utter amazement, and then the boy
said to me: "Oh, sir, now there will be
trouble. Bamleuti, Bamleuti." This Is
the name given by the natives of Toro
to these strange little people, and is
formed upon the root stem Of the word
which means poison. The boy evident
ly believed that this little pygmy was
but spy, and that many others were
in the vicinity ready to attack u.s. We
got TO camp that day about s p. m,
and we all had strange feelings of awe
as we sat about the camp, starting at
every sound, and expecting at every
moment to see a little arrow whiz
among us. I was trying 10 read as l
sat at my tent door, when suddenly I
heard slight rustling in the thicket
all round me. What could it mean!
I looked up, and behold, on every hand
strange little faces were peering at
me through the underground. A huge
tree was just in front of me, and be-
hind this little head kept popping,
and sharp, piercing eyes, seeming
veritably to sparkle even in the gloom,
were fixed upoe me. I called to my
boy and told him to go and address the
pygmies and ask them to come near
and talk with us. What! go and con-
verse with those little devils? Not a
bit of it, Oh, we're dead" cried he.
we're dead" AS ! sat there, / called
out myself in the language spoken in
Toro, Are you there? How do you
do?" and, to my great relief, there
came the reply, 1--WE are here" I
then asked them to come to me, that
we might converse, and with great
shyness and reserve and much hesita-
ton, the little being who had answer
ed me came toward me, and was fol-
lowed by several others
What sight Could anything be
more like fairyland! There stood half
a dozen little denizens of the dense
primeval forest, sturdy and strong,
and yet standing under four feet in
height. dark tan-colered skin, with
eyes like coal black diamonds, speark-
ling in their sockets. Here were the
Pygmies Perhaps the oldest race of
people to be found anywhere on Gods
earth, here stood before me, descend
ants of those, who. $500 years B. c.,
were known to the ancient Egyptians.
No wonder we looked with awe upon
20 wonderful a race, and very natural
I av,1 hot
hey were really human beings or a
over form of creation. I had not
ong to wait in suspense, for upon
questioning this very strange little Wis
tor, who by extraordinary chance,
,ould speak the Tore language, known l
llso to myself, / found very keen
He told me the approx |
nate number of the tribe in the fol- |
owing manner: Picking up piece of |
lead stick, he broke it into many
,leces and placed these in a long row |
me by one, saying, as he did so: THAT |
8 chief like myself" Having put |
,reat number of these bits of stick |
n the ground, I asked him how many |
nen each little chief had, and these |
in a similar way, only maxi
ng each bit of stick refer to 10 men,
nd then | was able to find that the |
lumber of this tribe was about 10000. |
n other ways he showed his intelli- \
ence and keen appreciation of joke.
HE strains of music that proceeded
rom my English concertina particu-
lrly charmed his savage little breast.
indeed, all the pygmies stood with
lide-open mouths listening to the
TRANCE sounds. One Of them was
arrying tiny wooden whistle, and I
sked the chief to tell him to blow it. |
his he did, making a most piercing |
ound. When ] asked it's use he
lughed, and then proceeded to tell me
nat it was used for one pygmy to |
al another. and it appears that at
reat distances they can make them
elves understood according to the