Evening star., 1924-08-31

never discover. Nowadays they are.
however comparatively respectable,
thanks TO the personal influence of
Capt. Phillips. an English colonial
official at kabalc. He has. after
patient labor, succeeded in bringing
about peaceful Intercourse with the
tribe. One of the chiefs used even
To come and visit him in kabaIe.
though always at night, SO as not to
attract any attention.
The last time he was there Phillips
mentioned our expedition and said
that We should like to meet them.
"Perhaps.' answered the little man.
If they bring salt. for salt is good
In any case We shall accompany them
and be so close to them all the time
that We shall be able to reach them
with our hands But they will not
see us
After We had shouted out fine prom
ises of salt the whole day. about 20
Ba-twa at last came out to receive
this ardently desired delicacy
They are not so strikingly small
According to measurements made in
the forest of Bugoye during the Duke
Of Mecklenburg's expedition. the aver
age height would be about feet S
inches. The color of the skin is very
dark. the heads are round. the noses
nat. The body in general is harmo-
niously developed. the shoulders are
broad and the chests full. Round the
loins they wrap skin. but otherwise
they are naked.
Their world goods they carry in A
small bag on their backs, in which
the fire sticks" are also stuck. There
are two Of these. cut from the same
wood and a little thicker than an
ordinary pencil. One. in which a hol-
low has been carved, is put on the
ground and is held there firmly by one
foot. The point of the other is then
made to rotate in the hole. This is
done by rotating the stick with great
speed between the two hands. while
at the same time pressing sufficiently
on the stick beneath. Soon the fric-
tion has so heated the two pieces Of
wood that dried grass or finder which
has been put around the hole catches
fire.
1t is astonishing with what speed
and confidence the pygmies handle
their fire implements Within the
space of few minutes, which to
European seems inexplicably short,
the fire flames up. I tried myself to
carry out the performance, but am
ashamed to say that / did not sue
ceed. and after half an hours ener-
getic drilling had to give up the at
my hands threatened to catch fire,
but by no means the grass.
Some members of the dwarf tribes
especially those on the kkijwij Island
in Lake kivu, make simple and beau
tiful vessels of clay, showing deVel-
oped though unconscious trend to-
ward the artistic; but otherwise they
have no handicrafts They lead
nomadic life in the forests and settle
where it suits them for the moment.
pleSt construction.
Their arms consist of short spears,
besides bows and arrows. The neces-
sary hardware they obtain from the
Bahutu in exchange for skins and
meat. Arrows both with wooden and
iron tips are used. The latter are
mostly painted with slowly killing
vegetable poison. A knife of cres-
cent shape "a sort Of panga) on a
handle finally completes the equip
ment Of the well-to-do.
Strictly speaking. one cannot call
them a race of pygmies, for the aver
age height is too great. Probably
they are descended at one remove
from some pure-blooded pygmy tribe.
but they have been mixed with some
foreign element during the course of
time. If you ask such a little gentle
man what he himself knows of his
descent, he will answer that the tribe
comes from a very remote place far
away in the South. But nobody knows
anything more exactly. There seem
to be no traditions left in their case.
The pygmies had promised to help
us drive the mountain elephants