CHAPTER XVII

In Darkest Africa. The Pigmies (Batwa) and their (Bambuba) Neighbours

In attempting to describe some of the tribes that we have come in contact with round Mboga, I feel the first place should be given to the Pigmies, for although they are the smallest of all folk, yet they are one of the most ancient peoples of history. Not only do they appear in the pages of the Greek historian, Herodotus, but to-day their representatives may be traced on the Pyramids. Beyond these bare facts of their existence nothing was definitely known about them until the late Sir Henry Stanley penetrated their forest home on his search for Emin Pasha, and startled the civilised world by his marvellous accounts of these legendary folk. Judging from their present conditions of life it is impossible to believe that they have made any advance, physically or morally, during the hundreds of years that have passed by since first they were known to the outside world.

[Illustration: THE FOUR PIGMIES IN KABAROLE.]

Their home is one vast, impenetrable forest which extends about one hundred and twenty miles north to south and nearly two hundred miles east to west; without intermission its vegetation has assumed abnormal proportions; out of dense, tangled undergrowth the trees have forced their way, and, as if to find breathing space and shake themselves free of the crush and their tiresome parasites, have reached a gigantic height. But the rubber plants, ivy, and creepers have proved equal to the task, and pushed their way up the tree trunks, have crawled along from branch to branch, until only glimpses of sunshine and sky appear through the thick foliage.

Doubtless this obscurity and the seclusion of their environment have acted as a narcotic on the development of the people.

Although small of stature they are by no means dwarfs, for their little bodies of four feet to four feet eight inches are perfectly proportioned. A very close view shows them to be covered with an almost imperceptible downy hair; on the arms this meets at the elbow as in monkeys. It may be due to their habit of sitting with arms crossed round their neck while the rain constantly drips down upon them through the trees. Their features are not prepossessing—in fact they are really ugly; a very broad bridgeless nose and two wide protruding lips appropriate as much space as the face can spare.

They possess no permanent homes, but are constantly on the move, never spending more than three to five days at one spot. They burrow among the thick undergrowth, and make clearings round the trees in order to erect their tiny grass huts, which are built in less than an hour, with saplings stuck round in a circle and tied at the top; grass and leaves are then thrown over as roofing. Very few adopt any clothing. Each man travels about with a bow and quiver of poisoned arrows in order that he may keep the family supplied in food. Although peaceable among themselves, there is no civil cohesion among the pigmies. They recognise no king or chief; each man is perfectly free to control his own household. There are no class distinctions; but the best huntsman will have the largest following because with his spoils he is able to effect exchanges with the near neighbours of the tribe—the Bambuba, a sturdy, thick-set race varying in height from four feet eight inches to five feet, who live on the north-east fringe of the Forest.

[Illustration: THE BA-AMBAS: NEAREST NEIGHBOURS TO THE PIGMIES.]

Necessity has never taught the pigmies to make fires. They are dependent on wood ashes from the Bambuba folk, which they carry about tied up in leaves, in which the fire smoulders for hours and is kindled into flame with a little gentle blowing. The Bambuba have learned to produce fire by means of igniting two little bits of stick by friction. They also make tiny torches of three or four thin twigs tied together by fibre; these are dipped into rubber juice freshly drawn away from the plant; then on the point of the torch is placed resin, which moderates the rate of combustion. One of these torches will keep burning for two to three hours. The pigmies do not cultivate the ground; they are exclusively a tribe of huntsmen who travel about in search of their prey. Their remarkable agility enables them to spring from branch to branch when watching the track of an animal. Often they are obliged to follow an elephant for hours before this forest monarch succumbs to the poisoned dart that has lodged itself in its tough skin; then as the huge animal rolls over like a thunderbolt falling, the little pigmies jump down from the trees, stand on the carcase, and draw out of a crude leather sheath their knives which have handles made of animals’ bones; they then commence cutting up the joints. Some of these will be carried off to the agricultural Bambuba tribe, who give potatoes, Indian corn, knives, or arrows for the meat. The rest is taken up into the trees and dried, after which it is either roasted or eaten raw. Although all their meat is poisoned they do not attempt to purify it, and the blood is regarded as a special delicacy. They do not, however, suffer any ill-effects, for the poison is said to have lost its power when once it has acted. The pigmies are regarded by the neighbouring tribes in very much the same way as the wild pigs, inevitable plunderers. At night they creep up to the potato patches, under cover of the long grass, and carry off their booty into the copse. No one dares to venture on revenge; indeed the surrounding tribes stand in terror of the little people because of their wonderful powers of self-concealment and deftness with their bows.

A pigmy rarely possesses more than one wife, and never more than two. A man purchases her with poison or fowls—a woman is valued at eighty to one hundred chickens. The wives are treated kindly and with consideration; only when a husband is provoked by abuse does he attempt to subdue his fractious helpmate by a sound beating.

A pigmy baby is the funniest little atom imaginable. A woman once brought to me her infant of three months; it was her first, and she evidently regarded it as an exceptional beauty. It was about the size of a sixpenny doll. I did not venture to touch it for fear of hurting it.

Having only reached the outskirts of the Congo Forest we never had an opportunity of seeing the pigmies at home. Those we have met and conversed with are women and boys that were stolen some years ago, and now have no desire to go back to the forest. At Mboga we found seven under Christian instruction, one of whom had been baptised. In Kabarole there are two pigmy girls and one lad learning to read besides Blasiyo, who was the first of his tribe to be baptised.

[Illustration: BLASIYO, FIRST BAPTISED PIGMY.]

He was my first God-child, the first of these wee and ancient people to step forth from their physical and spiritual darkness and before the listening Host of Heaven declare his belief in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, his faith for salvation, for salvation in Christ’s sacrifice, and his desire to never be ashamed “to fight under the banner of the Cross.” He is a quaint little figure, with a high sense of his own importance, and is quite able to stand his ground alone when assailed by his taller companions. Work is a great trouble to him, but he is always ready for tricks and games. Football is his speciality, and he never misses a chance of squeezing his way into the game, even when the men’s team is on the ground. In order that he might have a game with his friends whenever he could shirk his work, he invented a very ingenious football of a goat skin stuffed with dried banana leaves. While learning to read we took him on our staff of boys, not that he did much work, but in order that we might try and instil clean and industrious habits into him. His duties were to help the cook by feeding the fire with fuel and keeping clean the pots and pans, but when he knew his master and mistress were at lunch, he would run away from his post, and fetch a large ivory warhorn; then, taking up his position outside the dining-room window, would blow for all he was worth. He accompanied the blasts with weird, swaying movements that gradually developed into wild dancing, and transformed the little figure into a veritable imp or gnome. His idea was that this entertainment would quite justify his act of truancy; and he reasoned that if he could get his master and mistress to laugh their anger would be dead, for laughter drives out wrath. When he came to us, cleanliness was not a strong point with him, and he was for the time being quite debarred from playing football on account of being crippled with jiggers—an irritating, infinitesimal insect that bores in under the surface skin of the feet, and if allowed to remain there sets up mortification. The fact of their being there did not trouble him in the least, but his inability to kick the football drove him to get them extracted. A message one day was brought in that a man wished to see me on business. Going out on to our verandah I found a powerful, muscular figure dressed in a colobus monkey skin. He told me that his name was Mbeba, which means “a rat,” and that he had been sent by the pigmy to contract for his jiggers. His fee would be five hundred cowrie shells, which was a big price, but it would be a long job. I felt it was an offer to close on, and did not in the least regret my investment of sevenpence halfpenny when the pigmy proudly emerged from a ten days’ operation with his unshapely little feet considerably battered, but in sound kicking order.

Each week it was our custom to give round to our boys fifty or hundred cowrie shells for pocket money. These generally went to purchase pencils, or exercise books, or were carefully put by till sufficient were collected to buy a sheep or goat. But Blasiyo was never able to save a shell, for his great ambition was to ride about on a horse like the king, and as this was an impossibility he hired the tallest available man to run him up and down the roads on his shoulder for payment of shells.

One day a loud altercation was going on in our courtyard, and I was called out to arbitrate between Blasiyo and his two-legged steed. The man’s grievance was that he had agreed to ride the pigmy round our courtyard for five shells, and now he was refused payment. Blasiyo listened until he had finished presenting his case; then, when called on to give his defence, declared the man had not fulfilled his contract, for he had cut off all the corners. He was told to pay down three shells, and these he produced from under his tongue! When he had learned to read, he was very anxious to exhibit his wonderful intelligence, and asked that he might have a class in the reading school. Accordingly he was enrolled as a teacher. With an air of great importance he used to strut into school and take up his position among his scholars, some twelve to twenty men, whom he had asked to be allowed to teach in preference to boys. One day while going the round of the school to take the register I found Blasiyo’s class in rebellion. The reason was that the teacher had brought with him a little cane and whacked them all round because they did not pay him due respect. “Without respect,” said he, “progress is impossible.”

[Illustration: A GROUP OF PIGMY WOMEN.]

For several obvious reasons it will be impossible to send teachers to the pigmies under present circumstances. While they continue constantly moving about they cannot be satisfactorily reached; and no European or native of another tribe could live in the semi-obscurity of the dense forest, or exist solely on poisoned meat. The only hope of effectually reaching them is to teach and train those who are living outside among other people; for there is every reason to hope that some from among them might be found who will in the future be ready to go back to their old forest home and carry the torchlight of Truth to their own kith and kin.

Meanwhile it is a cause of great rejoicing that already some of these strange tiny folk have been baptised into Christ Jesus, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth was named.

THE BAHUKU.

In a strip of forest lying between the Semliki River and the Congo Forest, and within four hours of Mboga, lives a savage tribe known as the Bahuku. Among all the distinct races to be found on the western slopes of the Semliki Plain, these people undoubtedly are the most degraded and void of intelligence. Like the Ba-amba, many of the men allow their heads to remain unshorn: when the hair has reached to the nape of the neck they twist it into thin strands with goat’s fat, which is frequently mixed with a quantity of red earth. This gives them quite a terrifying appearance. They live in circular huts composed of closely-packed poles, with roofs of grass and leaves. They have no means of digging up the soil, but their method of cultivating is to cut down the grass and shrubs, to fell the trees, and sow their crops of Indian corn, beans and sweet potatoes among the stubble and roots.

A Muhuku may have any number of wives, but is obliged to build a separate house for each, as the women are very quarrelsome among themselves. If any favouritism is shown for one wife the others make no attempt to conceal their jealousy, and sometimes poison or spear the unfortunate woman. The custom of procuring a wife is to take her in exchange for a sister, cousin, or any other available female relation. When these fail, goats will be taken as a substitute. By the former method a woman is free to leave her husband and marry another if she wishes, but purchase by goats is binding on her; she has become her husband’s property absolutely. Should she run away and return to her people they are immediately suspected of bribing or stealing her. The injured husband then sounds the warhorn, and a sharp encounter with spears and knives takes place between the two families. When the victor has succeeded in driving off his antagonists he claims the bodies of the slain, which are taken to his home and feasted upon in honour of the occasion.

The warhorns of the Bahuku are regarded by them as family heirlooms, and have been handed down from their distant ancestors. They are formed out of small elephant tusks, which have been scooped out and shaved down to within two or three inches of the mouthpiece. Strips of elephant hide or lizard skin are sometimes neatly fitted round part of the horn and sewn with gut. The centre part of the instrument, which has become much discoloured by time, is decorated with various curious designs. These probably were intended for hieroglyphic writing or distinguishing family marks, but their significance, if ever there really was any, is quite unknown to the present generations. The Bahuku are very loth to part with these horns for fear of offending the spirits of their forefathers. A few, however, were willing to risk their displeasures when they saw the skinny little goats we sent out as purchase money.

[Illustration: THE BAHUKU: CANNIBAL RACE.]

Human flesh is regarded as a luxury among them, besides corpse-eating. The upper class buy from the peasants their dead for two to six goats. The bodies that are not sold for food are buried with a very prolonged ceremony. A deep hole is digged and the corpse is placed in a sitting posture with the hands crossed on the chest. It is then covered over with earth as far as the neck; the head is left exposed for six days, during which time the friends come and bestow on it their farewell glances. Then the burial is completed and the grave is carefully swept and guarded day and night until the family removes to another place.

Their religion is a form of fetishism. Tiny devil temples are built among the long grass away from the homes of the peoples so that the evil spirits may be kept at a safe distance. Only the men and old women are allowed to visit these little grass temples to take offerings of food or to practice divination. The men take with them a horn in order to acquaint their wives with the time of their worship.

Several from among these people came and visited us during our stay in Mboga, and although they were quite friendly, they expressed no wish for a teacher to be sent to them. Indeed, their minds seemed so unutterably void that they appeared incapable of receiving any new impression.

BABIRA AND BALEGA.

A few years ago, before European rule was established over the country, Mboga could scarcely have been a desirable quarter in which to find oneself shut up. The Bahuku, on the west, then practised cannibalism without any restraint, and captured anyone who ventured near their domain.

Then, while the vindictive little pigmies and half-tamed Bambuba enclosed it on the south and west, two powerful and savage tribes joined hands and claimed the district running north, right along to the western shores of the Albert Lake. These Babira and Balega people are very closely allied in features and customs, but the former are numerically very inferior. These have a peculiar practice, which I believe to be unique among Central African tribes, that is, the women bore a hole in their top lip and gradually increasing this until it is able to enclose a disc of wood two and even three inches in diameter. A Mubira woman came to call on us whose disc measured two and five-eight inches across. The size of the wood inserted proclaims the rank of the person. Peasants are only allowed to wear pieces of stick the same dimension as a match. The weight of the wood causes the lip to fall down over the mouth, and, in order to eat, it is necessary to lift up this shutter with one hand while the other conveys the food to the mouth. Frequently the lip breaks under the strain put upon it, in which case the disconnected ends are carried back and tied to the ear.

While the Balega do not adopt this inhuman custom of their neighbours, they have not reached to their degree of civilisation in introducing clothing. The Balega women still groan under the weight of pounds of thick brass wire wound round their arms and legs. This is supplemented by a prodigious amount of beads.

[Illustration: A MUBIRA LADY: AN AFTERNOON CALLER.]

[Illustration: A NATIVE OF BALEGA: The first to be baptised of his race.]

Until brought under Belgian rule these people refused to recognise allegiance to any power. Nominally they were under Bunyoro, for the King of that country years ago went across and laid waste the whole district plundering their sheep, cattle, and women. This was repeated by successive kinds till the people were compelled to yield to the claims of the Bunyoro. But their submission was compulsory and not permanent, so that when Bunyoro was troubled with civil war and outside foes the Balega ceased to be controlled by them. But the Bunyoro are very proud of a legend that relates how their King Ndohura, who conquered the Balega, while fighting them broke his stick and from it sprung up the Forest of Kirare. Returning from the war the same King is said to have slipped on a rock, and his footprint is to be seen to this day.

These people are very clannish and insular. Children remain under their mothers’ roof until they marry. If, like the “old woman,” they lived in a shoe, the mother would need a fairly roomy one, for often her offspring number twenty to thirty. As a man possesses many wives he has a lively time trying to keep his children in hand. When the sons marry they bring their wives and build close to the old homestead, and generally continue to recognise the authority of their father, and no other.

They believe in an evil spirit called Nyakasana, for whom they build a little grass temple in the court yard of their houses. They always offer to him the first-fruits of their potato, Indian corn and millet crops, and when they kill a goat for meat or entrap an antelope they take to their little temple a portion of the flesh, before tasting it themselves. The spirits of the dead have constantly to be propitiated by gifts of food and live stock. These are carefully kept apart, and when any member of the family is taken ill, the offerings to the dead are brought in, so that the sick person shall look on them and recover.

During our stay at Mboga, the first man from the Balega tribe was baptised, and since then several teachers have gone to them from Bunyoro and found a great willingness and desire among the people for instruction.

Thus gradually the Light is dawning on “Darkest Africa.”

“Arise shine, for the light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the glory of the Lord shall arise upon thee.... And the Gentiles shall come to Thy light, and kings to the brightness of Thy rising.” Isaiah.