The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1915-04-29
VISITED THE AFRICAN PIGMIF.S
Chaplin Spends Six Years in tho
WiidS of Africa.

tory. has returned to New York. al
ter six years spent in the wilds OF
Africa.
Despite seemingly well-authenticat-
ed rumors in the last few years that
the members of the expedition had
been lost or killed. he reported that
they had enjoyed the best OF health
and that the expedition had been a
great success, more than 10000 speci-
mems having been obtained. They
obtained three okapi, which was the
special object of their search.
I'VE were lucky enough to get
three perfect specimens of the Okla
pi," Mr.. Chaplin said, two full-grown
and one about half grown. The little
one is the only one that | saw alive
and the group will be the first that
ever has been set up in this country.
| The okaDi is a distant relative of the
giraffe, only that his neck is short
er The males have the same horns
as the giraffe and both males and fe-
males have stripes on their legs like
zebras. Herbert Lang, who was in
charge of the expedition, was partic-
ularly pleased at our luck.
We started for the Congo Free
States on May s. 1909, intending to
be gone year. After we got into
the work this time was heightened
to twp years. then to three. and final
fy we decided to stay until we had
finished what We set out to do.
We landed at Stanleyville. which
is about 1900 miles inland up the
Congo, and then made our first hike
which landed us at Avakubi after %
days. Mr.. Lang and | walked. as we
did for the rest of our stay there. and
it is probably due to this constant
exercise that we were able to retain
our health although the other white
men in the Congo thought it Won
derful that we could live there for
six years without serious sickness.
"Avakubi and Medge, both Bel
gian posts, were our headquarters
for a year. and it was here that we
obtained the small okapi. This is
forest country and owing to the lack
of underbrush, was fairly easy to
travel through. The Belgian govern
ment assisted us in every way. The
officials would get porters for us and
the government ended by contribut-
ing $1,000 towards the expenses of
the expedition.
'One of the most curious of the
bird specimens We collected was a
species Of the great hornbill. We al
so have several nests of this bird.
The male hornbill, when the season
arrives for the female to lay her eggs
and raise family, entices his mate
into a hollow tree, as high above
the ground as possible, and then
walls her in with mud. She is inn
prisoned in this cell for six weeks
to two months, and is allowed to
break her way out when the young
are ready to fly. All the time the
male brings her food, many times
day, which he passes in to her
through small hole which he leaves
for the purpose when he walls her
up. Her food consists of insects and
fruit. which he often has to chew
small enough to pass through the
hole.
Another peculiar bird was a
crowned eagle, that seemed to live
exclusively on monkeys. He is SINH
lar to the American eagle, except that
he has very large, strong feather
feet, with great talons. We have
specimens of this bird and also sev-
eral of it's nests, which are huge.
There was also a chocolate colored
hawk, which lived on bats. 1t would
appear Just about dusk and catch the
bats On the wing. Weaver birds,
which are about the size of the New
York sparrow, build hanging nests.
sometimes as many as 200 in one
tree, which they enter at the bot
tom.
In the Ituri we we're in the pigmy
country. and saw many of these peo-
pie and found them an assistance
in our work. They are great hun
ters, and usually attach themselves
to some tribe composed of farmers,
so that they can trade the spoils OF
their hunt for vegetables. They are
great hunters of caterpillars and |
white ants. These they catch and |
after drying them use them in trade
with the other natives who are just |
as keen for them as they are. The
caterpillar month is September, and |
then the pigmies are in clover They
roam the forests until they gather
all they can carry. They catch the