East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1905-09-05
A VISIT TO AFRICA'S TRIBE
OF DWARFTS.

Until recent years the very exist
ence of tribes of dwarfs in central
Africa has been disputed, notwith
standing the testimony OF explorers,
because the little people are very shy
and when one of their villages is
found 1t is more than likely to have
been deserted by the inhabitants. But
a visit to the dwarfs is no longer diff
cult. and an American woman, Miss
Jean Mackenzie, who is connected
with one of the west African stations
of the Presbyterian board of foreign
missions, has just sent to the office
of the board in New York city, a re-
port of a visit she made to them.
Miss Mackenzie begins her account
of the trip with the laconic statement:
THE other day l went to see the
dwarfs." She describes the earlier
part of the journey through the Afri-
can forest. stating that at town
called NIGGA there was met one of the
head men of the dwarfs man named
Be, He agreed to pilot the party to
dwarf village. and Miss Mackenzie
thus describes the trip:
we struck into the bush Be led the
caravan. walked after and could
Just see the path after he had showed
It, The wet leaves brushed my face
and all the forest was full of a per-
feet green light. Some flowers We're
here but not many-rather all the
forest dress was green, except where
little streams ran brown. Thus we
walked for three-quarters of an hour,
when Be went ahead to tell the peo-
pie of his village that a woman of
the "Minisi" was coming At noon,
after walk of four hours, I stepped
into the clearing where the dwarf
shelters lay.
"I sat down in the first shelter be-
side n little shriveled woman, who
shrank from me. The settlement lay
on the side of a hill and took the
form of rectangle with one side
open. There were no houses, proper
ly speaking. but four shelters made
with roofs of leaves. the caves sloping
from a roof-tree about five feet high.
1t is easiest to enter such a shelter
from the open ends. This much | saw
as | sat beside the woman.
Presently one little man after an
other came from somewhere and
shook hands with me pleasantly
enough. until quite a company were
squatted in front of the shelter watch
ing me breathe. The women hung
back. | could see them watching me
from under cover. think there must
have been 20 adults about the settle
ment within Is minutes of my ar
rival. The smallest woman did not
pass my shoulder U am feet in
ches). Most of them were smaller
than /, none larger. The men were
about my size. some half head
larger. some as much smaller One
knows them for dwarfs not so much
by size as by an expression of face
something at the same time dreary
and cunning. Their eyes are singu-
larly unsmiling. would say that
they desperately lack humor.
at still rained and the people made
off to their shelters and those living
in neighboring settlements disap-
peared. The normal life of the village
was resumed. They prepared shell
ter for me and from where / lay upon
my bed of poles a foot shorter than
myself I watched the people. There
were four beds in each hut and two
fires. Those women who were not
cooking over fires lay on beds, as did
the men After I was rested | sat
in other huts with the women. They
suffered, | suppose, from dumb
| alarms. as they dlstrusted me. My
| heart felt like lead. | afterward
walked to another settlement and saw
! other such people, most Of whom had
| come to see me when I arrived.
thOught This is the primeVal slime