DT 644 H3 PC-NRLF SB 5fl Ibl cr LIFE AMONG THE PYGMIES LIFE AMONG THE PYGMIES OF THE ITURI FOREST, CONGO FREE STATE BY JAMES I. HARRISON WITH iy ILLUSTRATIONS London: HUTCHINSON & CO. Paternoster Row jsr* j*r 1 9S Hs A. C. FOWLER. PRINTER, MOCRFIELDS, LONDON. Walendi women with large circle of wood inserted in a cut of the lip. THE PYGMIES. BEFORE writing about my little pygmy friends, I should first of all like to mention a few facts about the Congo Free State. This enormous country, reaching from the Nile to the West Coast, may practically be called one huge forest. Fortunately for its opening up, Nature has provided it with the most splendid service of water - ways in the world. Twisting and twining, the mighty Congo river runs like a snake through its centre, gathering into its bed from north and south many other large rivers like the Kasai, Ubangi, and Aruwimi (the latter of which joined by the Ituri, traverses the whole of the Stanley Forest), with their sources rising close to the Nile. Last year I had a most interesting hunting trip from Lado to Boma, merely touching the northern edge of Stanley Forest ; I then made my way on to try for that rare animal the okapi, in the big forest near Enguetra. The rainy season drove me out before getting a shot, though I did manage to see one okapi. It was some pygmy photographs taken on this trip which caused so many friends at home to ask why I could not bring some of these pygmies to England, and I was thus first led to think of doing so. Having determined on another attempt to get the okapi, I also asked permission when in Brussels to take home some of the pygmies, and was most kindly granted it, on giving every assurance of their being volunteers, well treated, and returned again to their Pygmies homes. January 29th found me at Lack), where I had arranged to meet a young Scotch engineer, by name Mr. Browne, w r hom I had met out there the previous year, and to whose assistance I was much indebted, through his being able to talk the different languages. My only other attendant was a Khartoum native called Wahby Ahmed, who turned out a perfect treasure. We took with us eight donkeys and a mule, though the latter unfortunately got away in jthe bush, and was, we afterwards heard, killed and eaten by the natives. With over 1,000 miles to trek and only eight weeks before the rains were due, I quite appreciated the hard task before us. How- ever, by marching from 25 to 30 miles a day, and meeting with extraordinary kindness from our Belgian hosts, who never Pygmies dancing. C - - J r ' ,. delayed us an hour for porters, we achieved our object, and had our three weeks' hunting. As the English papers have been filled with stories of all the natives fleeing from Belgian rule to settle in Uganda, I must just state the truth of how matters stand to-day on the Nile between Lado and Mahagi. Just beyond Kadge-Kadge I met a Chief called Tokwe, very busy building kraals, who told me that all his tribe were coming over to live on the Belgian side. Between Dufile and Wadelai I met and conversed with many chiefs, all occupied in a similar manner, their one remark being that having tried both Governments they preferred the Belgian. Two other powerful chiefs, Abala and Elo, crossed over to Belgian territory in July last, and have already built splendid villages. Further on a number of Kaie's men have .come over independently, while nearer Wadelai you pass village 6 The Pygmies after village, all newly built. Beyond Wadelai a census in 1904 gave the number of people with the Chiefs Augola-Laia and Okelu of the Luru tribe at 417 in March, 1905, the return was 1,500. All along the same remark " We are all coming back as we like the Belgian side best." On leaving Mahagi, on Lake Albert, we climbed the steep escarpment to begin our journey across the 140 mile stretch to Irumu. It was bitterly cold after the hot N'ile watershed, but a more glorious and splendid bit of country I have not seen in Africa. Teeming with a population of a most friendly and hospitable nature, well stocked with cattle and goats, rich in vegetables and bananas, and well supplied with milk and eggs, it seemed a perfect paradise. Pygmies dancing. Eeaching Irumu, quite a new post, we found our hosts, Lieutenant Demuenyuck and Lieutenant Siffer, most charming, and it was entirely owing to their help and advice that our expedition turned out so successfully. While resting here a day we heard of an old native chief who had living with him a a young pygmy boy of 18, called Mongongu, who could also talk Swahili. By the aid of numerous presents we induced the old man to let the boy accompany us, giving him blankets and clothes, with promises of more if he could induce others to visit England with us. This little fellow became a great favourite with all our party, and was quite happy when on or near the donkeys. He formed a quaint picture, clad in his bright red blanket, with one of my old terai hats on, stepping out leading our caravan. A few marches soon brought us to the edge of the much- 8 The Pygmies talked-of pygmy forest, and pushing along under very depress- ing circumstances, having run into a terrific thunderstorm, we finally reached the Ituri river. By means of the only rotten old peroke on the stream, we at last got across, and formed our first camp in pygmy-land. We were pleased to hear that our envoys had been success- ful in persuading some of the little folk to come in and give us a dance. The coming of the big white sahibs, loaded with presents, who only wanted to make friends with the pygmies, and see them dance, and get them to hunt, had evidently been well exploited. After a hasty meal about 35 visitors, chiefly men, came in to our encampment a weird-looking crowd, naked except for a small bit of deer-skin worn by the men, and two x Pygmies dancing. bunches of leaves by the women. After an hour's hard thumping on a small drum by an aged warrior, accompanied by an unceasing dance by the rest of the visitors, we called a halt, and having bestowed endless cloth, salt and beads on each one, begged them to come next morning and take us hunting. Alas ! for our hopes. When daylight appeared it was found that every pygmy had made a clean bolt into the dense forest. There was nothing for it but to push on ; so taking possession of the old peroke, we embarked two of the donkeys and our own boys, and slowly drifted down stream, while our porters marched alongside on the bank. Towards evening we turned up a small stream, and finding it too shallow for our heavily-loaded boat, we made for a big high-standing rock, which seemed the only clear place for landing in all the dense under-growth. Two boys 10 j i The Pygmies had swarmed up the rock and just dragged me up, when without a moment's warning they rushed into the jungle ; throwing their arms wildly about and yelling like madmen. I quickly followed suit, finding myself stung all over. Plunging into the thickest bush, I at last got clear. It happened w r e had landed right on top of a flying-ant's nest, with results disastrous to ourselves. The others down below had to rush into the water and lie down, while the poor donkeys simply went mad and jumped overboard. Our next camp in pygmy-land was a repetition of our first, our visitors danced, accepted presents, made many promises, and then made a bolt of it at night. I began to get a little discouraged, but kept pushing on further into the forest, sometimes finding a bit of good going, at others a mere game trail. During the day one hardly required to wear a cap, Pygmies dancing. the sun's rays not penetrating through the thick foliage. We were terribly bothered by swarms of a peculiar sort of horse-fly, which bites through any clothes, and which pestered our donkeys almost to death. The most extraordinary stillness pervaded the whole place ; except for an occasional band of monkeys or the harsh scream- ing of the horn-bills there was never a sound. It was a pleasant surprise to us to find no ants, for last year in the 'big forest every leaf was covered with them, and one was bitten every second. Some of the timber is very fine, chiefly the false cotton tree, the trunks of which assume all shapes. Still more quaint are their huge, flat roots. Not more than three or four inches thick, they grow quite flat, often three feet from the ground, and run in all directions from the trunk, 12 Pygmies dancing. Placing a sheet over looking like so many stalls in a stable, two makes a nice cool resting place. Having reached a small stream of running water \ve decided to camp awhile and again try our luck among the pygmy villages scattered around. Here our fortune was to change, as after boing looked at by a small band of men who came and danced, they kept their word, and arrived next morning to hunt. Having once won their confidence they willingly took us to see their different villages, hidden away in almost inaccessible places. Following my usual custom, I hardly ever carried a rifle with me, and very Pygmies dancing. The Pygmies seldom even a shot-gun, though I found the shooting of a flying- bird caused them much pleasure. I think the mere fact of wandering about with them, carrying only a camera and um- brella or walking stick, was the cause of their becoming so friendly. Even the women took to visiting our camp alone, when they wanted a little variety or some small present. The primitive shelters one can hardly call them villages inhabited by the pygmies are formed of ten to twelve leafed-in arbours, about seven feet in diameter and four feet high, con- structed by sticking in the ground some twenty supple, thin branches, bending them over, and then fastening them together at the centre ; these they encircle with long creepers, and then cover all in with big plantain leaves. Each hut is usually inhabited by about eight or nine people, who all obey their appointed chief, whose principal duty is to js dancing. settle disputes, and (the pygmies being entirely a nomad race) the frequent question of when and where to move camp. A * few cooking pots made out of clay, and gourds for water, are . their sole household effects. I expected to find them quite devoid of dress, but now all the men wear a bit of tanned skin, suspended by a single cord round the waist, ornamented by one big glass bead, while the women renew 7 their cheap costume daily by simply gathering two bunches of green leaves. The ,, hair of all grows exceedingly short and curly, still they manage to spend much time in its laying out and treatment. To cut patterns all over the head seems the principal style ; but some will shave half the head entirely ; others cut narrow lanes through the hair ; while many twist it up in two or three peaks, into which they plait the hair of squirrels, or feathers. 14 The Pygmies \ Taking the pygmies we saw, I do not ever remember seeing such a wonderful variety, so many types and such extremes. general height seemed to run from 3ft. 10 in. to 4ft. 5 in. While some would be fairly fat, the greater part would be mere skeletons ; the women, as usual with all native races, being always more robust than the men. Their complexions vary from very black to a horribly sickly yellow. Flat noses and thick lips covering half their faces would appear in the same family along with really good features. Copper and brass wire is much prized for the making of ornaments, different coloured beads, large, and small, also cowrie shells, being likewise in great favour. For the making of weapons they collect the ironstone,' and digging a hole in the ground for the fire, smelt it down by the aid of a primitive set of bellows made of roughly-tanned skin, tied to a hollow bamboo cane, which is inserted under the fire. They make spears, knives and arrows, the latter of many types and well made, consideringlThe-tactthatT-hey use nothing but different shaped stones for tools in their making. Their length of life is very short, the man seldom seeing 40 or the woman 35 years. Considering the conditions of life it is not to be wondered at. During eight months of the year the forest is a swamp, rain falling daily. Food then is very hard to procure, and they live on anything they can pick up, dead ra j ,, mice and frogs, all helping to stave off hunger. Smallpox is a terrible scourge, and all alike seem to suffer from a hard, racking cough. Truly they have a miserable time of it, and it is astonishing how they have survived all these generations. Each day enlarged our circle of friends, and even the inhabitants of the first villages finally all came in and built huts, so as to hunt with us. And now I will describe a day's hunting. At daybreak, while the fog is still enveloping everything, shrill whistles begin to sound from all sides, and as the hunters draw near one catches snatches of songs. Soon they begin to muster in front of our tents a motley crowd of about 140 men and boys some armed with spears, some with bows and arrows, while a few lead mongrel dogs with an iron bell attached to their necks. Having tried to explain that we do not want to kill anything but the okapi, and that its skin must not be cut about and gashed with spears, we sally forth in single file for about ten miles. The whole party then extends in a long line, we in the centre, and proceeds to drive the whole .country ahead. Darting about in the thick bush our friends look like so many little imps. Their plan of hunting is this : the moment game is started the man just behind blows his whistle, when imme- diately the men on each side dart forward in a horseshoe and try to encircle the animal before it can get away ; they then rush in and spear it. Several times did we nearly kill ourselves in madly trying to be in at the death, only to find they had stuck some miserable pig or tiny dik-dik. Of course, after this there was no chance of an okapi within miles. The pygmies 16 Pygmies as found in the Forest. The Pygmies v '0; are anyway a plucky lot quite young boys rushing boldly in f^r i and sticking a huge old boar, while the men will run right under an elephant or buffalo and drive a spear in from under- v neath ; they then follow on its trail for hours till the poison takes effect. As soon as the animal dies they cut out a large piece of flesh all round the poisoned wound, so that the rest is not affected. They assured us they hardly ever use poisoned arrows, only spears, not putting the poison on the blade but on the wood handle above. It only required one day's hunting to know that it was an absolute impossibility for any white man to shoot an okapi. If my best friend were to tell me he had shot one, I fear I should not believe him. I heard of an Italian who had shot one the previous year. On enquiry we found that his okapi had been killed in a similar manner to the two whose skins we brought away. Unfortunately, unless right on the spot, the animal is in a very short time cut up and quite spoilt. Had we been able to spend another month I feel sure we could have got a whole good skin, skeleton and photographs, but only by sitting down and waiting till the little people had killed one, and then packing off to the place without delay. Each night on returning to camp the ' spoils would be laid out, and having taken the heads or skins of any animals wanted, the rest would be carried off in triumph, ' of course accompanied by many gifts. After two successful days' hunt, which meant plenty of meat, they would say they were tired, so we had to fall back on a visit to their villages and a big dance in the afternoon. These dances are really exceedingly well done, far better than any executed by the ordinary natives. Having swept and cleared an- open space of all stones, two elderly veterans squat down with a drum between their knees. The only other music worn or carried is by those dancing, and consists of pieces pf bamboo cane a foot long, split half-way down into numberless small strips, two of these when hit together making a clicking, rattling sound. Some of the men wear on their ankles two pieces of hollowed iron tied together, with a stone inside, every time they stamp their feet making them jingle, A similar sort of thing is carried by the women, only with a handle, and used like a rattle. Every lot of dancers always has a dancing master who / takes the lead ; he begins, and gradually every one has fallen - ^\\ into line; moving in and out, twisting and turning like a snake, every moment they become more and more like mad f^ I people. Twisting their bodies into all sorts of shapes, they go \ through the most extraordinary contortions, taking all manner y of steps, waving their arms, singing wild snatches of choruses, and making most hideous grimaces, yet every movement is executed in most perfect time, even down to the smallest children, who have by this time all joined in. We were 18 *