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• THE PYGMy TRIBES OF AFRICA. By
As DR. HENRY SCHLICHTER,
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T H E S COTT IS H
G E O GRAPHICAL
M A G A Z IN E.
THE PYGMY TRIBES OF AFRICA.
BY DR. HENRY SCHLICHTER.
NOBODY, thirty years ago, believed in the existence of African dwarf
tribes, although, as I shall afterwards show, various reliable reports about
them existed before that time. But it needed an authority like Dr.
Schweinfurth to prove that pygmies actually exist in Africa. Since his
discovery of the Akka in 1870, most of our travellers who have pene-
trated into the forests of Equatorial Africa have brought home reports
about these and other pygmy tribes, and although our information may
still be incomplete in various respects, yet we have—as will be seen—
many facts at our disposal which enable us to treat the whole question
critically, and to do this is the object of the present paper.
Immediately after Dr. Schweinfurth’s discoveries the attention of
geographers was directed to the fact ' that as early as 1865 Du Chaillu
had found dwarfs in West Africa between the Congo and Ogowe ; and
Drs. Bastian * and Falkenstein * photographed and described repre-
sentatives of those who were living on the Loango coast. In the face of
this, Professor Hartmann, the celebrated ethnologist, came forward with
particulars about pygmies east of the Nile,” and Schweinfurth pointed
out the remarkable similarities which exist between his dwarfs and the
genuine South African Bushmen,” whom Fritsch had then just proved
to be an entirely different race from the Hottentots." Stanley, as is
1 Petermann's Geographische Mitteilungen, 1871, p. 139, sqq. . ,”
2 Bastian, Die deutsche Eagedition an der Loango Küste, I. Band, 1874, pp. 136-145.
3 Falkönstein, Zeitschrift für Ethnologie, vol. vi. 1874, Tafel 2.
4 Westermann, Deutsche Momatshefte, vol. xxxvi. pp. 388-390.
5 Schweinfurth, The Heart of Africa, vol. ii. 1874, pp. 139-144.
& Fritsch, Drei Jahre in Südafrika, 1868, p. 295; Fritsch, Die Eingeborenen Südafrikas,
1872, pp. 394, 397, 408.
VOL. VIII. X
7 tºne /*72
290 THE PYGMY TRIBES OF AFRICA.
well known, on his great journey, 1874-77, heard much about dwarfs
inhabiting the forests of the Upper Congo, and he has described one
whom he met with at Ikondu." The correctness of his views regarding
the pygmies has since been substantiated by the great explorer himself,
as well as by Wolf, Wissmann, and several others. Serpa Pinto found
natives similar to the more northern dwarfs under the 15th degree of S.
lat. ; * and I have previously pointed out that the Bushman-like Mossaro
of Schulz and Hammar, who live still more to the south, are in some
way connected with the Equatorial dwarf tribes.”
Thus it has been proved indisputably that in various parts of Africa
native tribes exist which are far below the average height of our species,
and belong to the most diminutive representatives of the human race.
In dividing the different pygmy tribes geographically we find that four
great groups may be distinguished, viz. –the dwarfs of West Africa;
those of the Central Regions; the East African dwarfs; and the tribes
which live south of the Congo Basin. This classification is purely
geographical, and future discoveries will probably show that there exist
various connecting links between these groups, as can be partly proved
even at the present time. º
FIRST GROUP-Dwarfs of West Africa : Obongo, Akoa, Babongo.—The
regions which these tribes inhabit are the forests between the Gabun,
Ogowe, and Congo rivers, where they live scattered among various Bantu
tribes. Lenz, who had good opportunities of studying them, says * that
the Qbongo (or Abongo) are found living among the Okanda, Okota,”
Apinshi, Akelle, Ashira, and other tribes on or south of the Ogowe.
They are, however, not found among the Pahuin. Du Chaillu met them
near Yengue and Niembue in Ashangoland,” and, according to the infor-
mation which he obtained there, they are likewise found in the Nshavi
country, and still further inland to the east."
Other undersized people, the Akoa or Okoa, were found by French
explorers in the immediate neighbourhood of the coast as well as more
inland. Touchard, as far back as 1861,8 reported that they were
exterminated on the Gabun by the M'Pongoe tribe. But to assume that
they were at that time entirely annihilated * is incorrect, as Marche, in
1876, found them near Lope, on the Middle Ogowe,” and Fleuriot de
1 Stanley, Through the Dark Continent, vol. ii. pp. 172-173.
* Serpa Pinto, How I crossed Africa, vol. i. 1881, pp. 319-325.
3 Scottish Geographical Magazine, Oct. 1891.
* Lenz, Skizzen aus Westafrika, 1878, pp. 114-115.
* It must be noted that De Compiègne (L’Afrique équatoriale, Okanda, 1875, p. 83)
describes the Okota near Edibe on the Ogowe, as ‘un vilain peuple ; les hommes sont petits et
ont l’air faux et méchant, comme ils le sont en réalité.” He further states that, according to
Walker's information, dwarfs exist in the neighbourhood of the first Okanda village (Obombi).
* Du Chaillu, A Journey to Ashangoland, 1867, pp. 270 and 316.
7 Du Chaillu, Adventures in the Great Forest of Equatorial Africa and the Country of the
Dwarfs, 1890, p. 448.
8 Revue maritime et coloniale, tome iii. 1861, p. 9.
* Hamy, Bulletins de la Société d’Anthropologie, 3°. série, tome ii. p. 86.
19 Marche, Trois voyages dans l'Afrique occidentale, 1879, p. 342-344. Lope, however, is
an Okanda village (compare Walker, Proceedings R. G. S., vol. xvii., 1873, p. 354).
THE PYGMY TRIBES OF AFRICA. 291
Langle describes an Akoa dwarf whom he met in 1868. Both tribes,
Akoa and Obongo, are closely allied to each other, and it follows from
Lenz’s” and Marche’s “ observations that the natives on the banks of
the Ogowe regard the Obongo and Akoa as identical, an opinion which
is, however, not quite proved at the present stage of our knowledge.
, Quatrefages describes another coast tribe, the M'Bulu, or Bulu, as
relatives of the Akoa.” This is evidently an error, as neither Touchard”
nor Marche,” who studied them, has given any proofs that they should
be regarded as a dwarf race similar to the Obongo, although they doubt-
less differ from the M'Pongoe, as the latter explorer states.
The German Loango Expedition furnished information about a third
tribe of dwarfs, who live a little more to the south, and are called
Babongo, and although Dr. Bastian did not succeed in reaching their
encampments and settlements," yet the great number of itineraries which
he collected 8 leaves no doubt that many of these dwarfs live among the
Bantu tribes in the ‘Hinterland’ of Loango. As indicated by the name
of Babongo, and proved by photographs and measurements, they differ
but little from their more northern relatives, the Obongo.
These West African dwarf tribes are in many respects similar to each
other, but differ greatly from the surrounding Bantu population. Their
stature is considerably below the average of the human race. Lenz, who
has measured many Obongo, states that the height of adult men is 4-3,
to 4-7 feet, while that of the women is much less.” The majority of the
Obongo whom Du Chaillu measured (mostly women) were between 4
and 5 feet.” Marche found the Akoa somewhat taller, viz., 4-9 to 5-0,
and the women 4-6 to 4-7 feet.” In spite of their small stature they
are well proportioned, strong and nimble. Their skin is usually of a dirty
yellow or yellowish-brown colour, and the men, in many cases, have a
very peculiar growth of thick hair on various parts of the body.” Thus
Du Chaillu observed that the young Obongo whom he measured near
Niembue had an unusual quantity of hair on his legs and breast, growing
in short and curly tufts similar to the hair of the head. He noticed this
growth of hair on several other Obongo whom he came across, and
all the accounts of the Ashango agreed that the Obongo men were
thickly covered with hair in the described manner. Of their language
1 Le Towr du Monde, 1876, No. 799, pp, 279, 280, and 283.
2 Lenz, Westafrika, p. 110.
8 Marche, Trois Voyages, p. 342. t
* Quatrefages, Les Pygmées, 1887, pp. 240-242. He describes the Bulu (or Chekiani) as
‘&touffés entre les Fans et les Pongoués.” But Iradier, Africa, Viajes y Trabajos, 1887, tome ii.
found the same tribe further inland on the Utamboni river, which proves that on the coast we
have only a portion of them, as is the case with the Akoa.
5 Touchard, Revue maritime et coloniale, 1861, pp. 10-14.
6 Marche, Trois Voyages, p. 106.
7 Bastian, Deutsche Loango Expedition, vol. i. pp. 139-140.
8 Eodem loco, vol. i. pp. 136, 143-146.
9 Lenz, Westafrika, p. 112.
10 Du Chaillu, Ashangoland, p. 319.
11 Marche, Trois Voyages, 342-343.
12 Du Chaillu, Great Forest, p. 446.
292 - THE PYGMY TRIBES OF AFRICA. \
and some further anthropological details I shall speak later on. As
regards their mode of living they do not differ much from the other
African dwarfs. The almost impenetrable forests between the Ogowe
and the Congo are their home. Here they dwell in temporary shelters
and huts—a migratory population who never remain at the same place
for any length of time. Whenever game becomes scarce they change
their abodes, but do not, as a rule, Wander out of their own district, e.g.,
, those of the Ashango country remain there, whilst the Obongo who live
among the Nshavi always confine themselves to Nshaviland. unting
and fishing are their only occupations, and, although in evéry other
respect they are Savages of the very lowest type, their cunning and skill
as hunters are most remarkable. Bows and poisoned arrows are their
chief weapons, and the Woods near their encampments and villages are
full of traps, snares, and pitfalls, in which they catch not only the
Smaller animals, but also elephants, pythons, gorillas, etc. In exchange
for vegetable food, knives, and other articles, they give dried flesh and
fish to their Bantu neighbours, and it is for this reason that they are
generally well treated by the Apinshi, Ashango, Nshavi, and other Bantu
tribes, who, however, very rarely intermarry with them. || They are
entirely ignorant of agricultural and pastoral pursuits, and in many
cases even unable to cook their food properly, although acquainted
with the use of fire. Occasionally, however, as Lenz tells us,” the Obongo
have learnt the use of cooking utensils from the Okanda.” Though
brave and plucky as hunters, they are very shy in their intercourse
with other people, and it was only with great difficulty that the frag-
mentary information which we at present possess about them could be
obtained.”
But as early as in the seventeenth century some reports about these
dwarf tribes reached Europe. At the end of the sixteenth century an
Englishman, with the name of Andrew Battell, was sent a prisoner by the
Portuguese to Angola, and lived there and in the adjoining regions for
nearly eighteen years. On his return an account of his travels was published
by Purchas in his Pilgrims, London, 1625. Battell is the first discoverer of
the gorilla, and he further states that north-east of the Loango coast, more
than eight days’ journey from Mayumbe, little people called Matimbas are
found, who are not bigger than boys of twelve years. They are hunters
who kill even elephants and gorillas. They pay tribute to a neighbouring
chief whom Battell visited. Dapper's great work about Africa,” published
in 1670, contains several passages about West African dwarfs. He
reports that dwarfs with big heads are found at the court of the king
of Loango, and that a tribe of these dwarfs, called Bakke-Bakke or
Mimos, are living as elephant-hunters and ivory-traders in the wilderness
1 Lenz, Westafrika, p. 109.
2 Jephson, Emin Pasha and the Rebellion at the Equator, 1890, reports the same of the Akka.
3 Crampel on his journey to the river Djah found pygmies in about 2° N. lat. Cf. Le Tour
du Monde, 1889, vol. i. p. 419. \
4 Dapper collected his information chiefly from Blomert, Bruno, Lopez, Linschoten,
Purchas, Pigafetta, and Jarrick. -
f
THE PYGMY TRIBES OF AFRICA, 293
belonging to the territory of the Great Makoko, to whom they are
tributary."
There can be no doubt whatever that Battell speaks of the same
region in which Du Chaillu discovered the Obongo. As regards Dapper's
reports, which refer to a country much further inland, I have to make
the following remarks. It is a mistake to suppose that the geographers of
the sixteenth and seventeenth century knew nothing at all of the Lower
Congo and of the interior of the adjoining territories. Tuckey's Furthest
was, until Stanley's discoveries, generally regarded as the last-reached
point inland, and the maps and information of former centuries were
disregarded as entirely untrustworthy. But only a few years back
Savorgnan de Brazza 4 re-discovered the kingdom and capital of the
Great Makoko, which is frequently found on the old maps, and mentioned
already in the fifteenth century by Diaz and Cada. Mosto. This king-
dom is situated west of the Congo, some distance above Stanley Pool,
and according to Brazza it is laid down tolerably correctly on the maps
of the sixteenth century. It is therefore in the neighbourhood of this
country that we have to place the Bakke-Bakke dwarfs of Dapper.
SECOND GROUP.—Dwarfs of the Central Regions: Akka, Wambuiti, Batua.
—This group represents the most important tribes of the African pygmies.
It is impossible at the present stage of our knowledge to divide this
group into two parts, because, geographically and ethnographically, so
many similarities are noticeable, that such a division would not be .
justifiable, although it must not be overlooked, on the other hand, that
considerable differences exist between the most widely separated members
of this group. A glance at the map proves that our present knowledge
of them, can be but incomplete, because it is impossible that they should
only exist at a number of isolated spots without connecting links.
The Akka are the most northern tribe of this group. Dr. Schwein-
furth did not see them in their own country, for those whom he met
with at Munza's court were only a small colony in the special service of
this chief.8/ But south of the Niam-niam country, in Monbuttu and
Makraka, and between the Medje, Maigo and Mabode tribes, there are
numerous colonies of independent Akka.” This name, Akka, is given to
them by the Monbuttu, whilst they call themselves Efe, Atshua, or
Wotshua.” The Niam-niam call them Tiki-Tiki; the Momvu, Voshu or
Worchu; and the Mabode, Afifi. Casati remarks, however, that by the
name of Tiki-Tiki a second and different tribe of dwarfs in the Monbuttu
country is meant,” who are taller, have a darker skin, more vigorous
1 Dapper, Umbständliche wºnd eigentliche Beschreibung von Afrika, 1670, pp. 527, 571,
572-573.
2 Conférences et Lettres de P. Savorgman de Brazza Sur ses trois Explorations dams
l'owest africain, 1875-1886; Paris, 1887, p. 157.
3 Schweinfurth, The Heart of Africa, vol. ii. pp. 84, 128, 131.
4 Jephson, Emin Pasha, 1890, p. 367. -
5 Casati, Ten Years in Jºquatoria, 1891, vol. i. p. 156; Junker, Reisen in Afrika, vol. iii.
1891, p. 88.
6 Casati, Bodem loco, p. 156.
294 THE PYGMY TRIBES OF AFRICA.
limbs, and are covered with stouter but fewer hairs than the Akka; they
inhabit the lofty parts of the Monbuttu country, whilst the Akka live in
the forests. Akka and Tiki-Tiki are, according to this information, often
at open war with each other. Arguing from similar descriptions of
other tribes, and from the fact that they frequently intermarry with other
natives,” I think there can be no doubt that these Monbuttu Tiki-Tiki
are merely half-breeds between the Akka and the Monbuttu. As regards
the true Akka, they are described by the various travellers who have
now seen and measured them as being on an average not higher than 4
to 43 feet.” The women seem to be equal in stature to the men. Their
colour is of a reddish (or sometimes yellowish *) light brown, but Emin
correctly remarks that owing to their dirty appearance it is difficult to
define it.* Their bodies are covered with a thick growth of greyish hair.”
The hair of the head is of a reddish-brown or rusty-brown colour, and
this is one of the characteristic features of this dwarf race, as in the
case of all other negro races, even those of a light colour, the hair of the
head is always of a deep black. This is so even with the Egyptians.”
The beard seems to grow much stronger than is usually the case with
other African races;" and Jephson, who studied the Akka in Emin
Pasha's province, says that the dwarfs have often very long beards,”
hereby confirming a report of Koelle, whose Betsan are likewise described
as bearded dwarfs.” The Akka generally give the impression of well-
proportioned and strong men, but Schweinfurth described those whom he
saw as having huge hanging abdomens, which gave them, although adult,
the appearance of Arabian or Egyptian children.” But this deformity
seems only local, as neither Junker nor Casati has noticed it, except
among children. They are a nation of hunters, who live chiefly upon
game, but they eat almost anything they come across, viz., all sorts of
flesh and fish, as well as reptiles and white ants. They are very fond of
vegetable food, but being entirely ignorant of agriculture they often raid
upon their neighbours, carrying off corn, bananas, sweet potatoes, manioc,
and beans. In districts where the neighbouring tribes are afraid of
them, they order the chiefs to provide them with the necessary vegetable
food, giving, however, skins, etc., in exchange for it.” Bows and arrows
1 Jephson, Emin Pasha, p. 373.
2 Schweinfurth, The Heart of Africo, vol. ii. p. 140; Emin Pasha, Eine Sammlung von
Reisebriefen und Berichten, 1888, p. 316; Junker, Reisen, vol. iii. p. 88; Casati, Ten Years,
vol. i. p. 156.
8 Emin Pasha, Reisebriefe, p. 315; Jephson, Emin Pasha, p. 372.
4 Emin Pasha, Eodem loco, p. 316.
5 Casati, Ten Years, vol. i. p. 156; Jephson, Emin Pasha, p. 373; Emin Pasha, Reise-
briefe, p. 316 ; Junker, Reisen, vol. iii. p. 91, states that the bodies of the Atshua are only
partially covered with hair, but the information of the other explorers is so distinct that
this can only refer to a local variety.
6 Casati, Ten Years, vol. i. p. 156; Junker, Reisen, vol. iii. p. 91. t
7 Schweinfurth, The Heart of Africa, vol. ii. p. 140, says that the hair and beard of the
Akka are but slightly developed. Also in this case we have to do with a local variety.
8 Jephson, Emin Pasha, pp. 373, 374.
9 Koelle, Polyglotta Africana, 1854, p. 12.
10 Schweinfurth, The Heart of Africa, vol. ii. p. 141.
11 Emin Pasha, Reisebriefe, pp. 315-316.
THE PYGMY TRIBES OF AFRICA. 295
are their characteristic weapons, which they use very skilfully, but they
have also acquired the use of lances and shields, in imitation of the neigh-
bouring tribes. They kill the elephant and buffalo by first blinding
them with arrows, and then spearing them to death." Then they encamp
near the spot, and remain there till the flesh is consumed. As a rule
they have no fixed settlements, but build their temporary huts wherever
convenient.” But, like the dwarfs of West Africa, they always remain
within certain districts, so that, e.g., the Akka of the Mabode country do
not go into the Medje territory.” It must be noted as an exception that
near the river Teli, south of Monbuttu, a colony of Akka has become
stationary, forming several villages, under a chief called Mgalima.” But
the wandering tribes also acknowledge chiefs, who rule according to
traditional usages, directing the hunting and commanding the warriors
in action. As regards warfare, Junker * and Casatiº affirm that they are
much appreciated as warriors on account of their dexterity as archers,
their nimbleness, and their bravery. The chiefs of the surrounding tribes
are said to compete with each other in securing them as subsidiaries. Also
Stanley and Emin describe the dwarfs as warlike and dangerous;" and
the former heard the same from Arabs who had fought with Batua tribes
between the Lomami and Congo. This proves that the pygmies are not
always as shy and timid as they are described by many travellers who
met them in Small numbers in the Equatorial forests.
Stanley, on his last journey across Africa, had ample opportunity to
study the dwarfs inhabiting the great Equatorial forest, which extends
south of the Niam-niam and Monbuttu countries. As is well known, he
followed the course of the Aruwimi river, and, strangely enough, met
with no dwarfs between Yambuya and the Ngaiyu," whilst they were
numerous east of the 28th degree of east longitude. It is at present im-
possible to account for their absence on the Lower and Middle Aruwimi,
the natural features of this great primeval forest being alike in all its
parts. They extend up to the edge of the forest, about five days' march
from the Albert Nyanza; * whilst a little more to the south they were
found still further east, on both banks of the Semliki River.” Stanley's
Zanzibari men called them Wambutti; 19 and he himself distinguished
two different kinds of them, viz., the Batua and Wambutti, the former
inhabiting the northern and the latter the southern districts of the
traversed territory.* I must confess that I found it no easy task to
l Casati, Ten Years, vol. i. p. 159.
2 Jephson, Emin Pasha, p. 369; Emin Pasha, Reisebriefe, p. 315.
3 Casati, Ten Years, vol. i. p. 157; Jephson, Emin Pasha, pp. 371-372.
4 Junker, Reisen, vol. iii. p. 92.
5 Casati, Ten Years, vol. i. p. 159-160.
6 Stanley, Im Darkest Africa, or, the Quest, Rescue and Retreat of Emin, Governor of
Equatoria, 1890, vol. ii. pp. 95, 248; Emin Pasha, Reisebriefe, pp. 315-316.
7 Stanley, Darkest Africa, vol. ii. p. 92.
8 Jephson, Emin Pasha, p. 369.
9 Stanley, Darkest Africa, vol. ii. pp. 96, 241, 248, 250, 262; Casati, Ten Years, vol. i.
p. 157.
10 Jephson, Emin Pasha, p. 369.
11 Stanley, Darkest Africa, vol. ii. p. 96.
296 * THE PYGMY TRIBES OF AFRICA.
classify these two tribes ethnographically, but after carefully comparing
them with their northern relatives, the Akka, as well as with their
southern ones, the Batua South of the Congo, I came to a conclusion
which tallies with certain remarks which Stanley himself made," viz., that
his Batua are identical with the most southern branch of the Akka ;
whilst the Wambutti, who differ greatly from them, belong to the Batua
group, which Grenfell, Bateman, Wolf, Wissmann, and François discovered
south of the Congo. Junker's Atshua (or Watshua) are Stanley's Batua,
and therefore are Akka, and Junker no doubt is correct in saying that
Atshua and Batua are synonymous terms.” It follows that the word
“Batua" signifies two different kinds of dwarfs, viz., those belonging to
the Akka group found north of the Congo, and those who live south of
the Congo and are near relatives of the Wambutti. Moreover, also, the
Bushmen and other South and East African tribes are called Batua" and
Watua,” which is therefore quite a general name, probably of Bantu origin.
To prevent confusion, I propose to avoid the word Batua as much as
possible, or to limit it to that pygmy group for which no other name is
known, viz., the Batua south of the Congo.
Life in the forest has to a certain extent modified the appearance and
customs of this branch of the Akka. Their bodies are not so well pro-
portioned,” and, although still daring and warlike, they are somewhat less
active in this respect than the Akka of the open country to the north.
They migrate less frequently, and their dwellings are larger and much
better built than the very small and miserable huts of the Monbuttu
Akka." As regards the Wambutti, they are decidedly superior, both bodily
and mentally, to the southern Akka. . For instance, the latter are entirely
ignorant of the use of nooses and nets for hunting purposes," whilst the
Wambutti have devised ingenious methods for catching the chimpanzee
and other monkeys,” and are very skilful in constructing nets, sometimes
100 yards long, of grass and bark fibres.” Their greater intelligence is
further proved by the many tricks and precautions which they employ in
their intercourse with their neighbours and with foreigners,” and Parke's
servant is an instance of how quickly they are able to pick up languages.”
As a special characteristic of the Wambutti, Stanley mentions their large
and beautiful eyes, whilst the Akka have small and malicious-looking
eyes, which add greatly to their ugliness.” In Ikondu, on the Upper
Congo, Stanley found a specimen of the Watwa dwarfs,” of whom the
1 Stanley, Darkest Africa, vol. i. p. 352. 2 Junker, Reisen, vol. iii. p. 88.
& Fritsch, Die J'ingeboremen Südafrikas, ethnographisch wºnd anatomisch beschrieben,
1872, p. 394. -
4 Cust, Modern Languages of Africa, vol. ii. 1883, p. 448.
5 Stanley, Darkest Africa, vol. i. p. 352.
6 Jephson, Emin Pasha, pp. 369-370; Casati, Ten Years, vol. i. p. 157.
7 Casati, Jºodem loco, p. 159. .#
8 Stanley, Darkest Africa, vol. ii. p. 93.
9 Parke, My Personal Experiences in Equatorial Africa, 1891, pp. 251, 397.
10 Eodem loco, p. 252; Stanley, Darkest Africa, vol. ii. p. 95.
Il Parke, Eageriences, p. 398.
12 Stanley, Darkest Africa, vol. i. p. 352; vol. ii. p. 96.
13 Stanley, Through the Dark Continent, vol. ii. p. 172.
THE PYGMY TRIBES OF AFRICA. 297
Arabs near Nyangwe had told him much. Some years later both Dr. Wolf,
on his journey in the Bakuba country," and Bateman, during his explora-
tion of the Kasai,” discovered Batua tribes in about 5° S. lat. At the
same time Grenfell found other Batua on the Lomami; and Grenfell and
François on the Tshuapa and its tributary, the Bussera; 8 whilst Wissmann,
on his two journeys across Africa, proved their existence, not only in the
BašSonge and Batetela countries, but also east of the Congo, in Ubudshwe,
and in Goma close to the western shore of Lake Tanganyika." Thus we
see that these Batua tribes extend over the whole southern part of the
Congo basin, and doubtless many more reports about them will be brought
home by future travellers. Except the fact of their existence, very
little is at present known of them; for, unlike their more energetic
relatives in the north-east, they are usually very shy and timid in the
presence of foreigners, which makes observations almost impossible. From
a somewhat detailed report by Dr. Wolf,” as well as from the information
of the other above-mentioned explorers, we gather that they have an
average height of 4-4 to 4-7 feet, are of a dark brown colour, somewhat
lighter than their Bantu neighbours, and present the appearance of a
well-developed, and not at all degenerate, race. They are hunters like
all the other pygmy tribes, and frequently intermarry with the surround-
ing Bantu population, except within the most secluded districts of the
primeval forest, where pure Batua may still be found.
As regards their mode of living, the different pygmy tribes inhabiting
the great Equatorial forest region, viz., the southern Akka, Wambutti,
and southern Batua, are so exactly alike that it is impossible to treat of
them separately. As nomadic hunters, they wander about the forests,
building their huts in the clearings wherever game is plentiful. Like the
pygmies of the Monbuttu and Ashango countries, they are experts in
killing even big game, such as elephants and buffaloes, either with spears
and poisoned arrows or by means of traps and pitfalls. Their intercourse
with the various Bantu tribes among which they live is usually of a
friendly nature, partly because the latter are afraid of them and their
poisoned arrows, and partly because the pygmies supply these Bantu
tribes with flesh and skins in exchange for vegetable food, spears, knives,
and Sundry articles, e.g., cooking pots, which may be regarded as belonging
to the luxuries of African pygmy life. Moreover, they are thoroughly at
home in the forest, and are therefore indispensable to their Bantu friends
as spies and scouts in times of feuds and warfare. The sites of their
villages and encampments are always carefully selected to avoid surprise,
and Stanley describes their daily life as being similar to that of the
1 Wissmann, Wolf, François, and Müller, I'm Innern Afrikas, Die Eºforschwng des
Rassai, 1888, pp. 256-262.
* Bateman, The First Ascent of the Kasai, 1889, pp. 23, 68, 145.
* François, Die Eiforschwng des Tschuapa wºnd Lulongo, 1888, pp. 111-115, 146-148,
155-160.
4 Wissmann, Unter Deutscher Flagge quer durch Afrika von West mach Ost, 1889, pp.
210-211; Meine zweite Durchguerwmg Aequatorialafrikas vom Congo zum Zambezi, pp. 129-
132, 190.
5 Im. Innern Afr., pp. 258-261.
298 THE PYGMY TRIBES OF AFRICA.
Bantu population. The women do all the domestic work. They erect
the beehive-like huts, covering them with skins or Phrymium leaves, they
collect wood and vegetable food, watch the fires, and dry flesh. When
the families and the tribes change their quarters, they carry the provisions
and the few utensils which have to be transported from one encampment
to another. The men, on the other hand, spend most of their time in
hunting or bartering with the neighbouring tribes. They seem to be
fond of Smoking, and, like other Savages, of discussing the interests of the
community in long palavers. They usually speak the dialects of their
Bantu neighbours, but all travellers inform us that they also possess a
distinct language of their own. About this language, of which we have
at present but a very slight and imperfect knowledge, as well as about
some anthropological details, I shall speak afterwards. *
THIRD GROUP.—East African Pygmies.—This forms one of the most
interesting parts of our present investigation. Long before Du Chaillu's
and Schweinfurth’s discoveries, travellers in Kaffa, Shoa, Southern
Abyssinia, and other East African countries, heard of pygmy tribes in the
Interior, and the information was in several cases so distinct and definite,
that it could hardly be regarded as entirely without foundation. Never-
theless, all these reports were ignored, until the existence of other
pygmies was proved, and, as far as I know, up to the present time no
critical view of this question has been attempted, although Cust, Quatre-
fages, Hartmann, Hamy, and others are inclined to believe in the
existence of these East African pygmies. I have, therefore, collected and
compared all the reports about them, and shall try to give a correct reply
to the question —Do pygmy tribes exist in East Africa, and if so,
where As far back as 1826 Captain Boteler brought information about
East African dwarfs.” When staying at Mombasa, he found that
immediately inland of the Wanika live the Meric Mungoan. These
people stated that in a certain district, between their country and that of
the Wanika, there was a race of pygmies, scarcely three feet in height.
They called them Mberikimo, and stoutly affirmed the fact of their existence.
They asserted that the journey from Mombasa to their country took six
weeks. That this story is based upon some actual facts, is proved by
Leon des Avanchers, who, thirty-three years later, obtained exactly the
same information while on the Zanzibar coast.” On his map, issued in
1859, he places a pygmy tribe with the name of Wa-Berikimo in 34° E.
long, and 1° N. lat., and from numerous reports he draws the conclusion
that these pygmies really exist somewhere in the regions indicated. This
information—as has just been mentioned—was obtained on the Zanzibar
coast, but when travelling in Abyssinia, Shoa and Kaffa, Harris, Krapf,
d'Abbadie, Hartmann, and several others, heard much about the existence
of pygmies in the unexplored southern territories. Harris says: *—
1 Boteler, Narrative of a Voyage of Discovery to Africa and Arabia, vol. ii., 1835, p. 212.
2 Avanchers, Esquisse d'une carte des pays Oromo ou Galla : Bulletin de la Société de
Géographie, 4° série, tome xviii. pp. 154 and 163.
3 Harris, The Highlands of Ethiopia, 2d edition, 1844, vol. iii. p. 63.
THE PYGMY TRIBES OF AFRICA. 299
“Beyond the extensive wilderness which bounds Kaffa to the south are
the Doko, an exceedingly wild race, not much exceeding four feet in
height, of a dark olive complexion.” Krapf gives very detailed informa-
tion about them." He states that he heard of these pygmies not only in
Shoa, but also in Barawa and Ukambani. In the latter country he
heard of the Wa-Berikimo of Boteler and Avanchers. In Shoa, Krapf
obtained his information from a native of Enarea whom he, as well as
Dr. Beke, found intelligent and reliable. This man travelled with the
slave-hunters from Kaffa to Tuffte, from there to Kullu, and then in a
couple of days to the Doko country, which he described as a swampy region
full of bamboo forests, and inhabited by pygmies who are about four feet
in height. Their colour is of a dark olive-brown, and they are perfect
Savages. They have no chiefs, no weapons, are ignorant of agriculture
and other occupations, and their food consists of wild fruits, roots, honey,
serpents, and smaller animals. They wear no clothing, have thick and
protruding lips, flat noses, and Small eyes. Their hair, however, is not
woolly. They do not know the use of fire, and eat the flesh of serpents
and other animals raw. Their only ornaments are the vertebrae of
serpents, which they wear round their neck. The slave-hunters of Susa,
Kaffa, Dumbaro, and Kullu often make raids on them, and, in spite of
their low and savage customs, the Doko slaves are said to be intelligent
and docile. Krapf met one of these slaves on the east coast at Barawa,
and found that he fully corresponded to the descriptions current
in Shoa about the dwarfs. He was about four feet high, of a dark
colour, and very active. The Barawa people confirmed the reports
that there was a race of pygmies in the interior, inhabiting a country
to the north-west of Barawa.” D'Abbadie, another well-known traveller
in these regions, has, on various occasions, spoken about the dwarfs
south of Kaffa.” He does not actually regard them as “pygmies,”
but, at the same time, he describes them distinctly as dwarfs. I
have found this incongruity in various authors, the oldest of whom
is Strabo.” The name “pygmy’’ seems to imply to them some mytho-
logical qualities or characteristics of which an ordinary dwarf is
devoid. But I shall afterwards show that the majority of ancient geo-
graphers simply regarded the pygmies as undersized people, and there is
no scientific reason whatever, either in ancient or in modern geography,
to make a distinction between pygmies and dwarfs. Now, d'Abbadie
states that the Doko country (which he places between 36° and 38° E.
long. Greenwich, and 4° and 5° N. lat.) is inhabited by different nation-
alities of black, or almost black, colour, forming more than thirty com-
munities, and speaking several languages.” Some other tribes more to
the north he likewise regards as belonging to the Doko. From this it is
1 Krapf, Reisen in Ostafrika, vol. i. 1858, pp. 76-79; vol. ii. 198.
* Bulletin de la Soc. de Géogr., 30 série, tome ii. p. 121.
* D'Abbadie, Bulletins de la Société d'Anthropologie de Paris, 38 série, tome ii.; Wote sur
le Hawt Flew've Blanc: Bull. de la Soc. de Géogr. 39 série, tome xii. pp. 144-161.
4 Geogr. vol. xvii. c. 2. *
5 D'Abbadie, Bull. de la Soc. de Géogr., 38 série, tome xii. Map ; 4° Série, tome xvii.
p. 172.
300 THE PYGMY TRIBES OF AFRICA.
evident that the Doko embrace a variety of different tribes, some of
which d’Abbadie describes as strong and stout like the Swahili," and others
as being only 5 feet high, a fact whieh he ascertained personally.” More-
over, to the west of the Doko country he places another diminutive
tribe, the Maze Malea, who are only 49 feet high, and speak the
Suro language; * and, while staying at Bonga in Kaffa, he obtained
authentic information that to the south of the countries of Kullu and
Mekan Sukoro tribes exist beyond the river Gojab whose stature is that of
boys of about fourteen years of age, viz., between 4 and 5 feet.* Hence
these different reports of d’Abbadie strongly corroborate Krapf’s state- .
ments. Leon des Avanchers, who, as we have seen, collected information
about these dwarfs on the Zanzibar coast, furnished further valuable
material about them while living at Gera, a district to the south of
Enarea.” He reports that in the neighbourhood of the Doko there live
very short people, the Areya, and still more to the south a tribe called
Cincalle, who are about as tall as boys of ten or twelve years of age. He
adds that many of these dwarfs are met with in Gera. They have large
heads, are ugly, and not more than 4 feet high. Professor Hartmann
gives further proof of the existence of the Doko pygmies. During his
stay. at Fazoklo he collected a number of reliable reports,” which describe
them as dwarfs of 4 to 4% feet in height, living to the south of Susa,
Raffa, and Gurague. This information also in other details tends to
confirm that of Krapf, d’Abbadie, and Avanchers. They are of a dark-
brown or dark yellowish-brown colour, with short hair, and are extremely
ugly in physique. They go entirely without clothing, and build most
primitive huts, which they cover with skins or leaves. Hunting is their
only occupation, and they are experts in catching the animals of the
forests in traps and pitfalls. They use only wooden weapons, and,
according to some reports, poisoned arrows. They never remain long at
one place, but change their quarters as soon as game becomes scarce.
They are entirely ignorant of agriculture, but collect all sorts of wild
fruits. Their full-sized neighbours fear and avoid them as strange and
dangerous beings." Summarising the different reports, we see that
Avanchers met with many of these dwarfs in Gera, Krapf saw one of
them in Barawa, and d'Abbadie came across several while travelling in
Kaffa : hence we have three distinct instances in which European
travellers of acknowledged authority, independently of each other, bear
witness to their existence. But in many respects still more important
is the indirect information which we are in possession of Professor
Hartmann's reports were published at a time when little was known
about the Akka and Abongo, and nothing at all about the Watwa,
1 Athematum, 1845, p. 243.
2 Jºodem Loco, p. 360.
8 Bull. de la Soc. de Géogr., 39 série, tome xii. Map.
4 Dull. de la Soc. d’Anthropologie, 30 série, tome ii. p. 100.
* Avanchers, Bull. de la Soc. de Géogr., 5° Série, tome xii. p. 171.
6 Hartmann, Die Wigritier, 1876, pp. 495-496.
7 Compare also Cecchi, Da Zeila alle Frontiere del Caffa, vol. ii. 1885, p. 463 —“Da
um'altra parte poi abitano degli uomini piccolissimi.”
THE PYGMY TRIBES OF AFRICA. 301
Wambutti, and Batua, and yet his description of the Doko pygmies,
which he obtained from reliable persons at Fazoklo, is word for word the
same as one may find about the just-mentioned Equatorial dwarfs in the
works of Stanley, Wolf, Wissmann, Lenz, and others. Harris, Krapf,
and Hartmann, as we have seen, call these pygmies Doko, a name which
occurs with all authors who have written about the countries south of
Kaffa, whether they have heard about pygmies or not."f That people
called Doko exist is therefore beyond dispute. . It seems, however, that
this name does not signify a special tribe, but is a collective name,
applied, according to d'Abbadie, to different people who speak various
languages. This explains the varying accounts which several travellers
gave about the Doko. But all agree in this, that they inhabit the
country south of the river Omo. D'Abbadie placed them between 4° and
5° N. lat.” But the recent explorations of Cecchi, Borelli, Teleki, and
Höhnel have proved that the course of the Omo is different from what
it was supposed to be, and it is now generally assumed that this
river turns to the west in about 6° N. lat. and flows into the Basso
Narok. The Doko country is therefore, in all probability, situated
between this river and the Basso Naebor, between 5° and 6° N. lat. and
36° and 38° E. long. Greenwich. The other dwarf tribes of which we
have heard, the Maze Malea, the Areya, and Cincalle must all be
looked for in the neighbourhood of this locality, and I feel confident
that I shall not be committing any serious error in affirming that these
regions are inhabited by pygmies, who are probably scattered among
other tribes of different race and customs, similarly to their relatives in
West and Central Africa.
A glance into Schweinfurth’s celebrated work, The Heart of Africa,
will prove that this distinguished traveller never studied the Akka
pygmies in their own country, that he never saw their domestic life and
settlements, and that he had not even found them in their usual mode of
living. All his information was derived from a number of Akka whom
he met at the court of the Monbuttu chief, Munza.” What Dr. Schwein-
furth reported about the Akka did not amount to more than what we
have learnt from Harris, Avanchers, Krapf, d’Abbadie, and Hartmann
about the Doko and other East African pygmies, and in the face of this
I think we have some good right to say that east of the Nile and to the
South of Kaffa, in the yet uneaplored territories to the South of the river Omo,
there easists a pygmy race Similar in size, appearance, and habits to the dwarfs
of the Upper Nile and Congo regions.
(To be continued.)
1 Compare, besides the above-cited authors, Dr. Beke, Journal of the R.G. S., vol. xii.
p. 87; vol. xvii. p. 66 and map ; Borelli, Jºthiope Méridiomale, 1890, pp. 437, 440, 444.
Borelli's picture of a Doko child (p. 313) and Schweinfurth’s picture of an Akka (The Heart
of Africa, vol. ii. p. 134), are similar in many respects.
2 Krapf and M'Queen placed them in 3° N. lat., which is a good deal too far south.
3 Schweinfurth, The Heart of Africa, vol. ii. p. 131.
302 SCOTTISH GEOGRAPHICAL MAGAZINE.
THE NEW HEBRIDEANS.
BY THE REv. JAS. H. LAWRIE, OF ANEITYUM.
THE strange diversity of languages spoken by the natives of the New
Hebrides Islands has led to the oft-repeated inquiry, How have these
been originated Where has this people come from ? Theories there
may be in abundance, but with our present knowledge these questions
cannot be easily, or satisfactorily, answered. The people are confessedly
children of Ham, so that their original home must be Africa, but
thousands of years seem to have elapsed since the first contingent
came wandering across the ocean and landed on the great island of
New Guinea, the head-quarters of the Papuan race, to which the bulk of
the New Hebrideans decidedly belong. They have crisp frizzy hair;
their skin is of a burnt coffee colour; their foreheads are fairly intelligent.
A race of men somewhat resembling the inhabitants of Western Polynesia
are found on the Andaman Islands in the Indian Ocean; they have curly
hair like the Papuans, and their features and habits generally imply a
common origin. When the great migrations took place, they may have
tarried midway between Africa and New Guinea. These natives have
been called Negritos, and certainly they are far removed in type from
the Hindus on the neighbouring continent.
On the smaller islands of Futuna, Aniwa, Fila, Mele, and a part of
Emai, there has evidently been an admixture of Malayan blood, the skin
of the majority of the natives on these few islands being a shade lighter
than that of their neighbours, and the language spoken somewhat akin to
the Samoan. This has evidently been a later immigration, and the new-
comers have not been numerous enough to efface the Papuan cast of
countenance or the crisp frizzy hair of the aborigines of these smaller
islands. This is an additional reason for believing that the Papuans of
western Polynesia have sprung from a common source, although they may
have come by different routes. In this connection, the way in which
the Tanna men cord their hair, a custom which may be observed in the
ancient sculptures of Persia, is noteworthy. The earliest pioneers of the
tribes may have been carried from their original home as slaves, and
through successive generations, repeated divisions, and intermingling with
other tribes on their way to the South Pacific Ocean, have adopted new
customs and altered some of their heathenish practices, until, as will be
seen from what follows regarding the differences in their languages,
idolatrous customs, style of dress, and weapons of war, the New Hebri-
deans may be looked upon rather as a number of peoples than as a united
whole.
Judging from the distinct differences in the heathen and idolatrous
customs of the natives on the thirty inhabited islands of the New
Hebrides group, we may be almost certain that the migrations did not
all take place at one time or from one quarter, but, like drift sea-weed on
the surface of the ocean, war parties, or refugees from war, or in some
cases strayed fishing parties, may from time to time have been carried in
THE SCOTTIs H
(# E O G R A PHI C A L
M A G A Z IN E. .
THE PYGMY TRIBES OF AFRICA.
By DR. HENRY SCHLICHTER.
(Continued from page 301.)
FOURTH GROUP.—Dwarfs south of the Congo Basin. : Bushmen and their
Relatives.—Investigations on the genuine Bushmen have become much
more difficult than they were at the beginning of this century, because
the rapid progress of European civilisation has driven this aboriginal
race of South Africa to the north and north-west, and the genuine Bush-
men have almost entirely disappeared from Cape Colony as well as
from the Orange and Transvaal territories. In Griqua-, Nama-, and
Bechuanaland they are still to be met with, but in very small numbers,
whilst certain parts of the Kalahari desert and of the surrounding regions
are the only territories where small hordes of genuine Bushmen may now
be found in their original state. Half-breeds of Bushmen, Hottentots,
Hill–Damara, and Bantu are met with in considerable numbers," and
many travellers have studied these, taking them for real Bushmen; and
it is for this reason that we have many ethnological and linguistic
accounts of the Bushmen which are often greatly at variance. This, of
course, makes a critical investigation very difficult, and but little remains
I Such half-breeds are, e.g., the Barwa and Masarwa of the eastern Kalahari, whom Holub
regards as a mixture of Bakalahari and Bushmen. They are of medium height, of brown or
black colour, and lead a life similar to that of the real Bushmen. Serpa Pinto says that they
are usually regarded by Europeans as Bushmen; and we have, therefore, here one of the
instances where the term ‘Bushman’ is used in an entirely misleading sense. Other half-
breeds of this kind are the Mademassana, south of the Zambezi, the Hottentot-Bushmen of
Great-Namaland, and various tribes and hordes which live among the Ovambo and Ovaherero.
Whether the Gogoro, Kasarere, Bakangala, and others are genuine Bushmen or not I am
unable to say, as we have no sufficient descriptions of them. Cust thinks that the Bakangala
and the Kasekere, Kasekel, and Mucassequere are probably identical.
vo L. VIII. 2 B
346 THE PYGMY TRIBES OF AFRICA.
(ethnologically and linguistically) which can be regarded without sus-
picion or doubt. I have endeavoured carefully to limit myself to this
class of observations; and I trust that the information thus obtained,
although fragmentary, will form a reliable nucleus for further critical and
comparative investigations.
Previous to the investigations of Fritsch and Hahn, it was generally
assumed that the Bushman was merely a modification of the Hottentot,
although Cuvier, more than seventy years ago, showed that this is not
the case.” In the first place, we have to prove that the Bushmen are
actually a dwarf race—a fact which is disputed by those who still hold .
the former opinion. Barrow, one of the best authorities on South Africa,
describes them as a pygmy race of extremely diminutive stature.” He
found the average height of the men to be 4.5 feet, and that of the
women 4 feet. The tallest Bushman whom he met with measured not
more than 48 feet. Lichtenstein, an equally well known traveller, states
that the Bushmen are extremely small in stature, and gives the height of
an average-sized adult as 4-3 feet.” Desmoulins regards them as the
smallest branch of the human race, * Daniell describes them as diminutive
persons,” and Arbousset says that their ordinary stature is a little above
4 feet." Kretzschmar, who studied them for many years, found that
their average height is between 3 and 4 feet," and adds that they are,
nevertheless, well-proportioned. Waitz remarks they average about 4
feet,” and Fritsch, who compared a number of them living in different
regions, came to the conclusion that the average size of the various
Bushman tribes is about 47 feet.” Schinz gives their average as 5:15
feet,” but this refers to only one or two small tribes living west of
Lake Ngami, and his figures are therefore not of general application.
Based upon these and other measurements, I have already deter-
mined the average height of the Bushmen of different tribes to be , 4-5
feet.” It follows from this that the Bushmen are a pygmy race,
similar in stature to the dwarfs of Equatorial Africa. But also in other
respects the Bushmen show a great resemblance to the other pygmy
tribes of Africa. Like the latter, they belong to that interesting group
of the human race which Fr. Mueller and others have described as
“tufty-haired,” the hair of the head growing in curly tufts separate from
1 Cuvier, Mémoirés du Musée d'Histoire Naturelle, tome iii., 1817, p. 260.
2 Barrow, An Account of Travels into the Interior of Southern Africa, in 1797 and 1798,
vol. i. pp. 277 and 279.
3 Lichtenstein, Reisen im Südlichen, Afrika, vol. i., 1811, p. 187; vol. ii., 1812, p. 71.
4 Desmoulins, Histoire Naturelle des Races Humaines, 1826, p. 309.
5 Daniell, Sketches Representing the Native Tribes of Southern Africa, 1820, p. 30.
6 Arbousset et Daumas, Jºacploration and mord-est de la Colonie du Cap de Bonne Espérance,
1842, p. 487.
7 Kretzschmar, Südafrika/mische Skizzen, 1853, p. 225.
8 Waitz, Anthropologie der Naturvålker, vol. ii., 1860, p. 328.
9 Fritsch, Die Eingeboremen Südafrikas, 1872, p. 397.
10 Schinz, Deutsch Südwest-Afrika, 1891, p. 393. -
Il Schlichter, The Geography of South-West Africa, in the Scottish Geographical Magazine,
Oct. 1891. f
13 Fr. Mueller, Allgemeine Ethnographie, 2 Auflage, 1879, p. 93; Haeckel, History of
Creation, 1876, vol. ii. p. 31]. .
THE PYGMY TRIBES OF AFRICA. 347
one another. Their skin is of a more or less yellowish-brown colour,"
their hands and feet are small,” and their ears large,” all these features
corresponding to those of the Akka and other Equatorial pygmy tribes.
Also, their mode of living is in many respects similar. The genuine
Bushmen are without exception nomadic hunters, who have not the least
idea of agriculture and cattle-rearing—their chief means of subsistence
being the produce of the chase, the smaller animals, and the roots and
fruits of the desert.* Unfortunately, they do not confine themselves to
the more or less barren plains of the Kalahari, but trespass on the pastures
of the cattle-rearing Bantu and Hottentot tribes, as well as of the Euro-
pean colonists,” and their frequent raids upon the cattle of their neigh-
bours have produced the deeply-rooted hatred of Bantu and Hottentots
against these dwarfish aborigines of South Africa. Their dexterity and
cunning in hunting equal those of the dwarfs in the forest region. They
catch large and small animals in cleverly-arranged pitfalls and traps, or
wound them with their deadly-poisoned arrows. Livingstone states that
they kill many lions with their insignificant-looking arrows." It is well
known how they disguise themselves in an Ostrich skin, in order to get
within bow-shot of these shy birds. They form no communities, but live
in families or in hordes," usually ruled over by a chief, whose power is,
however, very limited. As nomadic hunters, they have no fixed settle-
ments, and never remain long at one place; but, as a rule, they confine
themselves to certain districts, and carefully avoid intruding into the
territory of the neighbouring Bushmen,” a custom likewise observed
by the Equatorial dwarfs. The characteristic weapons of the Bush-
men are bows and poisoned arrows, which are foreign to all other
nations inhabiting these parts of Africa.” Their temporary huts con-
sist of bushes or sticks set up against each other, and covered with
grass, grass-mats, brushwood, etc.” Schinz says that the only vessels
which he found in these primitive households were the shells of ostrich
1 Daniell, Sketches, p. 30 ; Fritsch, J’ingeboremem, p. 401; Schinz, Südwest-Afrika,
p. 395; Moffat, Missionary Labours in Southern Africa, 1842, p. 4.
2 Fritsch, Eingeboremen, p. 406.
3 Fritsch, Jºoden loco, p. 410; Schweinfurth, The Heart of Africa, vol. ii. p. 143.
4 Schinz, Südwest-Afrika, pp. 391 and 395. *.
5 Chapman, Travels in the Interior of South Africa, 1868, vol. i. p. 8.
6 Livingstone, Journal R. G. S., vol. xxi., 1851, p. 23.
7 Fritsch, Engeboremen, p. 386.
8 Schinz, Südwest-Afrika, p. 389.
9 I have already pointed out that the word Batua, as a desigmation of the pygmies, is
used not only by the natives of the Great Equatorial Forest region, but also by other South
and East African tribes. For instance, the Bushmen are called Batua by the Kafirs, Baroa
by the Basuto, Basaroa by the tribes north of these, and Ovatua by the Ovaherero. It is
not quite clear what the word JBatua actually means. Hahn says that it signifies ‘bowmen,”
on account of their characteristic weapons, which are greatly dreaded by the Bantu. Schinz
translates it by ‘foreigners,’ and says that Europeans are just as much Batua to these Bantu
tribes as the Bushmen are. I quite agree with the latter scientist that the existence of the
name Batua is no proof of the relationship existing between the Equatorial dwarfs and the
Bushmen. Compare also : Hahn, Die Buschmänner, Globus, vol. xviii. 1870, p. 66 ; Fritsch,
Drei Jalºre in Süddfrika, 1868, pp. 96-97.
10 Chapman, Travels, vol. i. p. 60; Barrow, Travels, vol. i. p. 275.
348 THE PYGMY TRIBES OF AFRICA.
eggs," used for keeping water in, but Chapman states that some of them
know the use of cooking utensils.” Their morals are said to be superior
to those of the surrounding tribes, and although at first very shy of
Europeans, they are afterwards found to be intelligent and trustworthy.
We see that in most respects the Bushmen are exactly similar to the
dwarf tribes of Equatorial Africa, but it must not be forgotten that cer-
tain differences also exist between the groups; Stanley and Schweinfurth
describe the eyes of the Wambutti and Northern Akka as large and
beautiful, whilst those of the Bushmen are small, deeply set, and restless,
imparting to their countenance a savage expression. This difference is,
however, not universal, as the Southern Akka whom Stanley discovered in
the Great Forest have the same small, deeply-set, and malicious-looking
eyes as the Bushmen. Moreover, the latter show no development of the
lanugo, whilst many of the forest dwarfs, as we have seen, are covered
with a thick growth of greyish hair; but also this distinction is only a
partial one, as Schweinfurth describes the hair of the Akka as but slightly
developed. The peculiar clicking sounds of the Bushman languages
were not found by Lenz, Wolf, and other travellers in the languages of the
Obongo and Batua, and Mr. Stanley informed me that the same is the
case with the languages of the pygmies of the Great Forest. Certain
differences in their mode of living, clothing, etc., are the direct conse-
quences of the varied geographical and climatological characters of the
countries which they inhabit, and other peculiarities of the Bushmen,
e.g., the steatopygy of the women, seem to be, as Fritsch correctly remarks,
a sign of Hottentot mixture. Summing up, we cannot fail to recognise
the fact that the differences between the Bushmen and the Equatorial
pygmy tribes are of much less importance than the similarities
existing between these groups, and Schweinfurth is perfectly correct in
saying that, where the general similarity is so great, all minor discrep-
ancies sink into insignificance.” About some anthropological details, as
well as about our knowledge of the languages of both groups, I shall
speak afterwards. The chief argument against the relationship between
the more northern dwarfs and the Bushmen is that the two groups are
geographically separated by widely extending territories, inhabited by a
great number of tribes and nations of different origin. But this objec-
tion is untenable, as the existence of certain tribes has been proved which
connect, geographically and ethnographically, the Bushmen with the
other African dwarfs. Professor Ratzel points out that such connecting
links cannot be looked for in the eastern parts of South and Equatorial
Africa, where for centuries past numerous ethnological changes have
taken place.” But he regards the Mucassequere, a peculiar tribe which
Serpa Pinto discovered between the Cuando and Cuanavare, in about
20° E. long, and 15° S. lat.,” as a connecting link between the Bushmen
1 Schinz, Südwest-Africa, p. 389.
2 Chapman, Travels, vol. i. p. 60.
3 Schweinfurth, The Heart of Africa, vol. ii. p. 142.
4 Ratzel, Petermann's Mitleilungen, 1890, pp. 295-296.
* Serpa Pinto, How I crossed Africa, map, and vol. i. pp. 319-325.
THE PYGMY TRIBES OF AFRICA. e 349
among the Ambuella in the forests between the Cubando and Cuando.
They are of similar colour to the Hottentots and Bushmen; their hair is
crisp and woolly, growing in separate patches on their heads; their eyes
are small; and their whole appearance is excessively ugly. Their only
weapons are bows and arrows; they are entirely ignorant of agriculture ;
they have no dwelling-houses or settlements, but live in encampments,
where branches of trees, bent downwards and interlaced in front,
constitute their only shelter. They speak a language of their own,
quite unintelligible to all the surrounding tribes. Serpa Pinto regards
them as the lowest type of Savages he ever met with on his journeys,
and classifies them in the so-called Hottentot-Bushman group. Although
his information is but very fragmentary, there can be little doubt that
we have the connecting link between the Bushmen and the more northern
dwarfs before us. This opinion is confirmed by Schulz' and Hammar's
discovery of the Mossaro or Mossakere, a similar tribe more to the-
south—a fact to which I have already drawn attention in my paper
about the geography of South-West Africa. The Mossaro were met with
in about 17° 30' S. lat. and 22° E. long. They are of a yellowish-
brown colour, and are described as hunters of Bushman-like appearance
and habits. The Mucassequere and Mossaro are therefore ethnologically
of the utmost interest and importance.
Other African Dwarfs.—Besides the previously described four great
groups, other dwarfish or semi-dwarfish tribes must be mentioned, of
whom we have a numbér of more or less trustworthy reports. Of some
of them we cannot at present tell to which group they actually belong,
or whether they are only local modifications of other African races.
Mollien, in 1818, found the district of Tenda Maie, in the Western Sudan,
inhabited by a variety of tribes, which he describes as the only remain-
ing representatives of former African races, suppressed and well nigh
annihilated by the conquests of the Mandingo and Fulbe.” Among these
tribes, he discovered at Faran, on the Rio Grande, a small colony of
undersized people, whom he regards as the real pygmies of Africa. About
their customs and language nothing is stated, except that Mollien remarks
that the inhabitants of Tenda Maie speak a different language from that of
the surrounding tribes. It is impossible to say whether we have here the
last survivors of the pygmy tribes, which in all probability lived twenty-
five centuries ago on the banks of the Niger, or of some other river of
the Sudan, or whether the inhabitants of Faran form only a local modi-
fication of one of the other Sudan nations. However that may be,
Mollien's statement is of the highest interest to ethnologists.
I can attach but little importance to a remark of Escayrac de
Lauture's about pygmies who are said to exist to the west of the
hypothetical lake Koei-Dabo, a two months' journey to the south-
east of Massena in Bagirmi.” They are called Mala Gilage, and
1 Schulz, Eºforschwng der Chobe whd Cubango Flüsse, Verhandlungen der Gesellschaft
für Erdkunde zu Berlin, vol. xii., 1885, p. 384.
2 Mollien, Voyage dans l’intérieur de l'Afrique, 1820, tome ii. pp. 209-210.
3 Mémoire sur le Soudam, Bull. de la Soc. de Géogr. 4° Série, tome x. 1855, pp. 108 and 135,
350 THE PYGMY TRIBES OF AFRICA.
are described as small-sized people of a reddish colour, and covered
with a growth of hair. The natives say that they are men with
tails. On account of the latter part of the statement the infor-
mation must be rejected as unreliable, although the reddish colour of
the skin and the growth of hair seem to indicate that the report may
refer to some genuine observation. -
Much more trustworthy are the reports of Koelle, which he obtained
from natives while preparing his admirable Polyglotta, Africana at Sierra
Leone." In the country of Lufum, and also on the shores of a lake called
Liba, is said to exist a tribe of dwarfs called Kenkob, who are described
as being 3 or 4 feet high. They are said to live on the produce of the
chase and to be excellent marksmen. In the Rufum country and on
the river Riba, flowing through the countries of Bansa and Bambongo,
there is a small tribe of bearded pygmies, from 3 to 5 feet in height,
called Betsan, who are hunters like the Kenkob. They lead a nomadic
life and do not cultivate the ground. Riba and Liba, as well as Rufum
and Lufum, are evidently synonymous terms which refer in all probability
to the Congo or Öne of its tributaries, where the country of these dwarfs
must be looked for.
Another small group of natives, the Watua or Wata, who are not
actual dwarfs, but closely allied to them, must be mentioned here. They
are found in two widely-separated countries of East Africa, viz., near
Delagoa Bay, and also more to the north on the Swahili coast, where they
live among the southern Galla tribes in the districts near Tagaungu.”
According to New, the Watua and Wasania are identical.” This
interesting group—about the northern branch of which we possess
Some reliable information — reminds us in various respects of the
Central African pygmies. Like them they are expert hunters, and live
exclusively on the produce of the chase. Their weapons are bows and
arrows, and, although they have some few fixed settlements, yet they
generally lead a migratory life, dwelling in temporary encampments
where they build beehive-like huts. Ethnologically they are totally
different from the Galla among whom they live. They speak the Galla
language, and, according to New, they know no other, but Krapf asserts
that they have also a language of their own which is entirely different
from all Galla dialects.
Cust speaks of another tribe belonging to the pygmy group which,
according to Last, lives about three months' march north-west of Nguru.
Last gives them the name of Wamdidikimo.” On Stanley's map of
1878 a pygmy tribe called Wabilikimo is placed in 3° S. lat. and
35° 30' E. long. This reminds us at once of the Waberikimo of
Boteler, Avanchers, and Krapf, whom we have mentioned in con-
nection with the Doko and other East African pygmies. The few
observations, however, which we possess at present about them, are not
* Koelle, Polyglotta Africana, p. 12.
* Cust, Modern Languages of Africa, vol. ii. 1883, p. 448.
* New, Life, Wanderings &nd Labours in Jºastern Africa, 1874, p. 278 sqq.
* Last, Proceedings R. G. S., 1882, p. 226; Cust, Modern Languages, vol. ii. p. 451,
THE PYGMY TRIBES OF AFRICA. 35]
sufficient to authorise us to speak definitely about this tribe as a more
southern branch of the East African pygmies."
Quite recently a pamphlet was published, entitled The Dwarfs of Mount
Atlas; Statements of natives of Morocco and of Europeans residents there as to
the 60-istence of a dwarf race South of the Great Atlas, by R. G. Haliburton.
As the author of this pamphlet has informed me that he is in possession
of further material concerning this question, I shall suspend my judgment
till after the publication of this new evidence."
Some Anthropological, Anthropogenetic, and Linguistic Remarks.-Pro-
fessor Flower, in an admirably-written paper,” gives a full description of
the two Akka skeletons which Emin Pasha sent to London some years
ago, thereby definitely settling the dispute which, since Schweinfurth’s dis-
covery of the Akka, had been going on about the osteological peculiarities
of these pygmies. He has proved that the cranium of the Akka is shorter
and rounder than is generally the case with Negroes, and although a ten-
dency towards brachycephalism exists, Schweinfurth’s opinion that the
cranium is almost spherical is incorrect. Further, the cranium shows a
considerable degree of prognathism. The skeletons also prove that the
Akka belong to the smallest representatives of mankind, and that they
show in all essential characteristics the type of the negroid branch of the
human race. But I cannot agree with Professor Flower in his compara-
tive remarks about the Akka and Bushmen, as his observations about the
latter differ so greatly from those of Fritsch—who, as is generally acknow-
ledged, is our best authority upon the genuine Bushmen—that I have
been greatly puzzled how to explain Professor Flower's differing state-
ments. However, having studied the Bushman skeletons in the Royal
College of Surgeons, to which Professor Flower refers, I have found that
none of these,” and, moreover, none of the crania, etc., in the Barnard,
Davis Collection,” can be proved to have belonged to genuine Bushmen,
as no information whatever about the tribe or country where they came
from is forthcoming. All that we know about the origin of these speci-
mens is that two of the skeletons were sent from a hospital in Capetown,
a fact which makes, it very doubtful whether we have the skeletons of
genuine Bushmen before us. The crania of the Bushmen are de-
scribed by Fritsch as large and broad, and showing a high degree of
prognathism, whilst Professor Flower speaks of their peculiar oblong
form and the absence of prognathism. Again, speaking of the external
appearance and the Osteological characters of the Bushmen, Professor
Flower says that their only near allies are the Hottentots, whilst Fritsch
has conclusively proved that the genuine Bushmen differ in these respects
altogether from the latter. It is further stated that the yellow complexion
of the Bushmen is unlike that of the Akka, whilst we know from various
1 Other tribes, like the Wandorobbo, Wanema, and Wapangwa, are in all probability
ethnographically identical with the tribes among whom they live.
* Flower, Descriptions of two Skeletons of Akka, Journal of the Amthropological Institute
of Great Britain, vol. xviii., 1889, pp. 3-19; compare also Flower, The Pygmy Races of
Men, Jºodem loco, pp. 73-91.
3 Compare the catalogue of the Royal College of Surgeons. Part I., 1879, pp. 246-247.
4 Davis, Thesaurus Cranforwm, 1867, p. 216-217.
352 THE PYGMY TRIBES OF AFRICA.
travellers that the colour of the skin is in both cases of a characteristic
yellowish-brown shade. About steatopygy, etc., I have spoken above,
and as regards the assertion that although individual Bushmen were
found to be very small in stature, yet the Akka are considerably shorter
than the Bushmen, I have to reply that many travellers, e.g., Barrow,
Lichtenstein, and others, have based their view about the dwarfish
size of the Bushmen upon a great number of measurements, and by no
means upon single individuals. All this leads me to the conclusion that
Professor Flower is not describing the genuine Bushmen, but rather a
Hottentot mixture. Therefore, his conclusion that the Akka differ from
the Bushmen is by no means justified, and the existing similarities be-
tween the Equatorial dwarfs and the genuine Bushmen are, as we have
seen, so striking, that, in spite of our fragmentary Osteological knowledge
of the latter, the relationship of the groups can hardly be doubted.
Various authors have brought forward the hypothesis that the pygmy
tribes of Africa are the remnants of the original population of that con-
tinent, but I must emphatically state that such an assumption is at the
present time unsupported by any direct observations, although this hypo-
thesis recommends itself strongly by the fact that it is most unlikely that
the various scattered pygmy tribes immigrated into territories already
occupied by the Bantu, Nuba, and Hottentot races. On the other hand,
it has been said that the pygmies are merely degenerate specimens of the
tribes among which they live, the Obongo, for instance, being degenerate
Ashango, the Akka degenerate Monbuttu, and the Bushmen degenerate
Hottentots. It is, however, utterly impossible to uphold this latter view,
as the anthropological and ethnological differences between the various
pygmies and their full-sized neighbours are far greater than the differ-
ences which exist between the pygmies themselves. Our best authorities
on the pygmies, viz., Stanley, Wolf, Schweinfurth, and others, have
strongly objected to the assumption that we have in the pygmies degene-
rate Bantu and Nuba, but it is of course quite natural that frequent inter-
marriages with these races should have produced half-breeds showing in
some respects the characteristics of the pygmies, and in others those of
other races. Such a race are Casati's Monbuttu Tiki-Tiki, as already
mentioned, and many difficulties which puzzle us at present about the
Bushmen, Akka, and others, are doubtless the result of this fact. That
the degeneration hypothesis is incorrect is further proved by the wide
extension of the pygmy tribes over the greater part of Africa, as well
as by the fact that more or less similar tribes, which belong to the
same branch of the human race, are the aborigines of certain islands
lying in the Indian Ocean, or still more to the east. Professor Haeckel
in his Anthropogenie and History of Creation * suggests that the
primeval home of man was a continent, now sunk below the surface of
the Indian Ocean, which extended from Africa and Madagascar to Further
India, the Sunda Islands and Melanesia. Various problems of natural
history and anthropology would find an easy solution, if this suggestion
* Haeckel, Anthropogenie, 3. Auflage, 1877, p. 521 ; History of Creation, 1876, vol. ii.
p. 326.
THE PYG MY TRIBES OF AFRICA. 353
could be conclusively proved. One of these problems is the origin of
that peculiar branch of the human race which includes not only the
Bushmen and the Hottentots, but also the Melanesians, Andamanese,
and the now extinct aborigines of Tasmania." Besides the Bushmen we
have to add to them the other African pygmy tribes. The Andaman
islanders are a dwarfish race, differing, however, considerably from the
African pygmies, as Professor Flower has proved. Another pygmy race,
the Kimo, are said to exist in Madagascar, but we know very little about
them, and the extinct Tasmanians are described as having been on the ** *
average a little above 5 feet high. Hence, we see that the small-sized fºr
tribes of this branch of mankind are not limited to Africa, and Hamy
appropriately gives to the African pygmy tribes the collective name of
Negrillos,” analogous to Negritos, the small, round-headed race more to the
east. Darwin's, Huxley's, and Haeckel's investigations about the origin of
man point to the antiquity of these races, and although our information is at
present too meagre and fragmentary to warrant us to compare the Negrillos
and Negritos with the anthropoides, yet the diminutive size, and especially
the development of the lanugo with many African pygmies, e.g., the Obongo,
Wambutti, and Akka, are of the highest interest in this respect.
We know but very little about the languages and dialects of the
Bushmen and of the other African dwarf tribes. A few short vocabu-
laries of the latter, collected by Stanley, Wolf, Du Chaillu and Lenz, are
all that we can compare at present with the equally incomplete Bushman
vocabularies of Hahn, Bleek, Lichtenstein, Schinz and Arbousset. Many
words which the Equatorial dwarfs use are adopted from their Bantu
neighbours, but all travellers affirm that the dwarfs have also languages.
of their own, and the vocabularies show that the characteristic pygmy
words are different from the languages of the surrounding Bantu popu-
lation. After eliminating the Bantu elements, I had less than thirty
words left for a comparison with the very incomplete vocabularies of
various Bushman dialects. This was quite insufficient to draw any
reliable conclusions, but as some of these words are evidently identical,
I shall give them in the accompanying footnote.” About clicks I have
* Compare Flower, The Aborigines of Tasmania, Manchester Science Lect., series 10, p.
49 sqq.; Two Akka Skeletons, Anthrop. Inst., 1889, p. 3-19; Pygmy Races of Men, Eodem
loco, pp. 73-91.
2 Hamy, Essai de coordination des matériaua- récem’ment recueillis sur l'ethnologie des
négrilles ou pygmées de l'Afrique équatoriale, Bull. de la Soc. d’Anthr. de Paris, 3°. série,
tome ii. pp. 79-101. †
3 8

LANGUAGES OF THE EQUATORIAL DWARFs. BUSHMAN LANGUAGEs.
Water akko (Stanley, Darkest Africa : Bakiokwa kho (Hahn : Baroa lan-
dialect). guage).
Eye koi (Stanley: Bakiokwa dialect). ‘F kai (Schinz, Südwest-
- t f Africa: || Ai dialect).
Foot maguru (Stanley : Mbarukukaru dialect). + goro (Schinz : || Ai
dialect).
Hut n’duh (Wolf, I'm Iºwnerm Afrikas : Southern nu (Schinz: || Ai dialect).
Batua language). f
Small kokoa (Wolf: Southern Batua language). | goa (Schinz: || Ai dialect).
354 THE PYGMY TRIBES OF AFRICA. .
spoken already. Those linguists who regard exclamations, interjections,
and the like, important in the study of languages, I may refer to Du
Chaillu's observations among the Obongo.
African Pygmies of Antiquity.—Already in the course of my investi-
gations about Ptolemy + I have pointed out that I attach no scientific
importance to the numerous legends which have been current from the
earliest times about these inner African dwarf tribes,” but that, on the
other hand, we should not ignore what several trustworthy ancient authors
wrote about them.” Herodotus tells us that Sataspes, at the farthest
point of his journey on the west coast of Africa, found the coast occupied
by a dwarfish race who wore a dress made from the palm tree.* I do
not venture to connect this report with the undersized inhabitants of
Faran whom Mollien met on the Upper Rio Grande. But, nevertheless,
this information is not without interest, especially when we compare it
with another report which is likewise contained in Herodotus, viz., of the
well-known journey of the five Nasamonians into the interior of Africa.”
Vivien de Saint Martin believes that these Nasamonians never crossed
the Sahara, but only reached Wargla." His arguments, however, are
not convincing, and the report, as given by Herodotus, can only refer to
the Sudan, the great river flowing eastward being either the Niger or
one of the rivers in connection with Lake Chad, e.g., the Bahr-el-Ghazal.
On the banks of this river lived dwarfish men, under middle height, who
spoke a language unintelligible to the Nasamonians. Of this pygmy
race no trace has been found in modern times. We know that for cen-
turies past numerous ethnographical changes have taken place among the
Savage and the semi-civilised inhabitants of the Western Sudan, and it
is therefore probable that the dwarfish aborigines whom the Nasamonian
travellers met on the banks of the said river have disappeared long
ago, whilst their more southern relatives found refuge in the impene-
trable forest regions of Equatorial Africa.
Pomponius Mela," a Roman geographer of the first century of the
Christian era, speaks of other pygmies, whom he places in the interior of
East Africa to the west of the Gulf of Aden. Between them and the
coast he places a tribe called Panchai, who are no doubt identical with
a tribe mentioned by Ptolemy and dwelling in the same locality, viz.,
1 Schlichter, Ptolemy's Topography of Jºastern Equatorial Africa, Proceedings R. G. S.,
Sept. 1891. - f *
* Mondeaux (La Légende des Pygmées et les Naims de l'Afrique Equatoriale, Revud
Historique, Vol. xlvii., Sept.—Oct. 1891, pp. 1-64) has recently given a complete account about
the pygmy legends of antiquity. His careful investigations are a valuable contribution to
the historical part of the pygmy question. -
* Also the few extant remarks of Hecataeus (see Eustathi: Commentarii &d Homeri
Iliadem, vol. i., 1827, pp. 301-302; and Müller, Frag. Hist. Graec., vol. i. p. 18) and
Philostratus (Apollonius von Tyana, Baltzer's edition, 1883, p. 230, book vi. c. i.) about
the pygmies, are of no scientific value.
* Rawlinson's ed. of Herodotus, vol. iii., 1875, p. 35.
* Eodem loco, vol. ii. pp. 50-51. -
* Vivien de St. Martin, De Word d'Afrique dans l’Antiquité, 1863, pp. 18-19.
7 Pomponius Mela, De Chorographié libri tres, lib. iii. c. 8.
THE PYGMY TRIBES OF AFRICA. 355
the Pechini. According to the latter geographer, the Astapus (Blue
Nile) flows to the west of the country of the Pechini, and the pygmies of
Pomponius Mela must, therefore, be looked for beyond this river—i.e.
either west or south of it. This brings us into the neighbourhood of
those territories which, according to Harris, Avanchers, Hartmann, and
others, are inhabited by an East African dwarf race, as above explained.
Although we are thus able to fix approximately the locality of the
pygmies of Pomponius Mela, and although his statement seems perfectly
trustworthy, yet there is no corroborative evidence of them to be found,
and therefore I simply state the facts without drawing any conclusions
therefrom. |
I have proved in a previous publication that the Ancients had not
merely a vague knowledge of the Upper Nile regions, but were ac-
quainted with the course of the Nile far beyond the confluence of
the White and Blue Rivers, It is, therefore, not difficult to under-
stand that they might have had either direct or indirect informa-
tion about the pygmy tribes living in the source region of the
Nile. That this was actually the case follows plainly from the words
of Aristotle, who states that the pygmies live near the lakes from
which the Nile flows ; “ and this is no fable, for there is really, as it
is said, a race of dwarfs, both men and horses, which lead the life of
troglodytes.” + Pliny affords corroborative evidence in saying that,
according to different authors, the Nile has its origin in several lakes,
between which is the country of the pygmies.” Strabo also has a
passage on this subject. He says:—“The mode of life (of the Ethio-
pians) is wretched; they are for the most part naked, and wander from
place to place with their flocks. Their flocks and herds are small in size,
whether sheep, goats, or oxen ; the dogs also, though fierce and quarrel-
Some, are Small. It was, perhaps, from the diminutive size of these people
that the story of the pygmies originated, whom no person worthy of credit
has asserted that he himself has seen.” “ Now, it is a curious fact that
the natives in the neighbourhood of Gondokoro and Lado, on the Upper
Nile, have Small-sized domesticated animals, and Sir Samuel Baker, in
his book about the discovery of the Albert Nyanza, describes them as
follows:– “The cattle are very small ; the goats and sheep are quite
Lilliputian.” “ I have already pointed out that Strabo's denial of the
existence of the pygmies is merely an objection to the name, as he speaks
about Small-sized tribes immediately afterwards, and this, as well as
Aristotle's and Pliny’s information, can leave no reasonable doubt that
the Ancients had some knowledge about the existence of that branch of
the dwarf tribes of Inner Africa which the greatest of all African ex-
plorers, Stanley, discovered on the banks of the Semliki Nile, near the
Mountains of the Moon and the sources of the Nile of antiquity.
I must add a few words about a geographical fragment" which
1 Aristotle, Hist. Animal., viii, 2.
2 Pliny, Hist. Wał., vi. 35.
* Hamilton and Falconer's ed. of Strabo (Bohn's Classical Library), vol. iii., 1857, p. 270.
* Baker, The Albert Nyanza, 1866, vol. i. p. 91.
* Compare Cooley, Ptolemy and the AWile, 1854.
356 THE PYGMY TRIBES OF AFRICA,
belongs to the fifth or a later century of the Christian era. It contains
a description of the source region of the Nile. I cannot here enter into
a discussion how far the unknown author of this fragment has copied or
amplified Ptolemy and other geographers; but if we regard, as Ganzen-
müller correctly does, the Crocodile Lake as identical with the Victoria
Nyanza, we find that the pygmies who are mentioned in two passages of
the fragment are placed in the same localities as those of Aristotle and
Pliny. Dr. Felkin reports that he met with a dwarf at Rohl, who told
him that he came from a far country inhabited by pygmies, who live
among mountains the tops of which are always white; and the late
Captain Stairs, who carefully studied the pygmies on the Upper Aru-
wimi and Nile, informed me that in every large tribe of Central Africa
dwarfs are kept, either as curiosities or for their powers of tracking and
bushcraft, and that, he believes, they found their way in ancient times to
Egypt, and may have given some information about the Mountains of the
Moon and the sources of the Nile. I have no doubt that this is correct,
especially in the face of a highly important discovery which Mariette
made, who found on one of the old Egyptian monuments the picture of a
dwarf and the name of Akka by the side of it.”
I may be permitted to remark that the more I study and criticise the
still extant information of the Ancients, the more I am surprised how
great—in spite of many errors and inaccuracies—their actual knowledge
of Africa was. Of course we must be very careful and critical, but I
think I have proved that in many cases we are in possession of facts
which no reasonable critic can disregard or deny. The African pygmies
are an example of this, and besides, it is very pleasing for me to see that,
at least in this instance, Calliope is in harmony with dry nineteenth-
century science, finding some truth in the words of the greatest of Greek
poets who sang many centuries ago:*—
. “When inclement winters vex the plain
With piercing frosts, or thick-descending rain,
To warmer seas the cranes embodied fly
With noise, and order, through the midway sky;
To Pygmy nations wounds and death they bring,
And all the war descends upon the wing.’
I cannot conclude without tendering my most sincere thanks to our
greatest African authority, Mr. H. M. Stanley, for his kindness in giving
me many valuable hints concerning the ethnology of the pygmies living
in the Great Forest and on the Semliki Nile.
1 Felkin-Wilson, Uganda and the Egyptian Sudan, 1882, vol. ii. pp. 141-142.
* Hamy, Essai de coordination, etc., Bull. de la Soc. d’Anthºr. de Paris, 38 série, tome
ii. p. 97.
* Iliad, iii., Pope's translation.
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